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When it comes to choosing a partner, research finds that opposites don't attract.

The Similarity-Attraction Hypothesis holds for couples from physical attraction to education.

Aging changes the needs and the necessary skills of partners such that similarities are not enough.

To function better as a couple over time, different complimentary skills and assets matter.

The question of whether similar or dissimilar personality traits are a source of romantic attraction and marital satisfaction has been debated for years.

An extensive study by Horowitz et al. in Nature Human Behavior (2023) reports significant correlations between human partners based on systematic reviews and meta-analyses of 22 traits and UK Biobank analysis of 133 traits. Essentially, it finds that people connect based on similarity. Opposites don’t attract.

Consistent with this, the Similarity-Attraction Hypothesis seems to hold up across characteristics such as physical attractiveness,........

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