A Study Found “Opposites Attract” Isn’t Really True at All
So Paula Abdul lied to us? What are we talking about?
Would you say your relationship is an “opposites attract” scenario? Well, you might actually have more in common than you think: A new study found “opposites attract” might just be a MYTH. We’re way more likely to end up with people we have stuff in common with. Again, Paula Abdul lied:
They looked at old studies that analyzed 22 different traits. Then they did a follow-up that looked at 80,000 couples and more than 130 traits . . . everything from religion and “core values” to each person’s drinking habits.
Overall, they found most couples have similar habits and views on more than 80% of stuff . . . and substantially different views on just 3%.
Things we’re most likely to have in common include our political views . . . religious views . . . education level . . . how much each person drinks and smokes . . . and even the number of sexual partners you’ve had.
This part’s interesting: They did find that extroverts don’t necessarily go for other extroverts. But they’re no more likely to go for introverts either. It’s a coin flip.
Overall though, they found that “opposites attract” is definitely overrated. Quote, “Birds of a feather are indeed more likely to flock together.”
