Do Opposites Attract?

There are so many ingredients that go into a relationship. How many times have you been told that you like “the bad boy” and therefore end up dateless again?  Or had friends trying to  get a rich guy’s attention when they are working in a grocery store?  So do opposites really attract??

Single people may not initially gravitate towards someone with similar interest but when considering a long term situation, the tendency is to find a person who compliments them. Relationships are difficult enough and most people are attracted to someone who looks, feels and interacts as they do.

A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in July 2003  provided a questionnaire to 978 heterosexuals from Ithica, N.Y. between the ages of 18-24.

The participants rated the importance of 10 attributes of a long-term partner, and then rated themselves on the same scale. When the results were completed, self-perception was more likely to match mate perception.

Conclusion: “In Western society, humans use neither an ‘opposites-attract’ nor a ‘reproductive-potentials-attract’ rule in their choice of long-term partners, but rather a ‘likes-attract’ rule based on a preference for partners who are similar to themselves across a number of characteristics.”

If people are realistic and don’t want to be chasing a dream their entire life, they must understand that if you venture into a higher realm, you may be shot down. Educated people tend to look for others with similar or higher intellect, attractive people normally are not looking for someone that they don’t find traditionally attractive. People who have a dynamic personality and are the life of the party, will not be looking for the wall flower they noticed sitting by herself.

It is important for someone to have their own identity and even have some interest that are not important to their partners. However, for a relationship to thrive and in order to develop a deep and lasting bond, there must be more similar categories of interest than not. Meaning , forget about the “opposites attract“  theory!

Unless you want to be spending most of your free time either alone, with friends or bored, make sure that before you let go of your emotions,  that you are able to connect in areas other that the heart. Otherwise, you may find yourself losing a large part of it!!

We will be posting more on the Opposites Attract topic in our dating blog.