All of us are familiar with the famous proverb- ‘Opposites Attract.’ However, we rarely see this beloved cinema trope play out in real-life couples. But have you ever wondered why is it so that people in relationships often seem to share similar traits or beliefs? Well, researchers from the Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder dove into this intriguing question by looking at data from hundreds of studies on couples.
Birds Of A Feather Flock Together
Interestingly, it turns out that most romantic couples tend to have things in common, like their political views, religious beliefs, and education levels. The study disclosed that for more than 80% of traits analysed, which also included consuming drugs or the age when either person first had sex, couples showed extraordinary similarity. Surprisingly, even seemingly smaller things like whether you're a 'morning person' or an 'evening person' can be influenced by your partner.
To figure all this out, scientists crunched the numbers from studies involving co-parents, engaged couples, married pairs, and people living together. They even looked at data from a massive group of over 79,000 couples in the UK! The researchers also analysed 133 traits in nearly 80,000 opposite-sex couples enrolled in the UK Biobank project. Since couple behaviours may differ for same-sex couples, scientists investigated these cases separately and later compiled the study.
What they found was that couples often share traits like political values quite strongly. Even heavy smoking, drinking, or complete abstinence from them also found home among the traits that were present in both parties in the relationship. But when it comes to more personal things like psychological traits, medical problems, or body measurements, the similarities aren't as strong but are still very much present.
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Pitfalls Of The Findings
The study found that for couples who seemed the opposite of each other, the opposing traits were quite uncertain with night owls pairing with early risers, left-handed people with right-handed, and those who have a tendency to worry with those who do not. Even for these couples, most of them possessed similar core beliefs.
This study might incite some worry as it only happens through heaven’s grace that you find people who are so similar to you. However, another concern that the study has raised is that these findings hint at the possibility of a divided future. Consider this- if people with similar educational backgrounds or financial upbringing pair together, it could cause a socioeconomic divide where people lie on opposite ends of the spectrum. Similarly, if all tall people were to consummate only with other tall people, the coming generations would exhibit height differences to an extreme.
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Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder have definitely provided some food for thought, not just for behavioural scientists, but also the regular folk who are still figuring out the dating world, and questioning the basis of their romantic pairings. So, the next time you and your partner find yourselves on the same page about something, remember, that it's not just a coincidence – there's some science behind it!
