Contrary to popular belief that variety is the 'spice of life' and 'opposites attract', a new study has found that most people choose mates with matching political views, and those attitudes were among the strongest shared traits, which count stronger than qualities like personality or looks
Contrary to popular belief that variety is the 'spice of life' and 'opposites attract', a new study has found that most people choose mates with matching political views, and those attitudes were among the strongest shared traits, which count stronger than qualities like personality or looks.
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They found spouses in the study appeared to instinctively select a partner who has similar social and political views.
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"It turns out that people place more emphasis on finding a mate who is a kindred spirit with regard to politics, religion and social activity than they do on finding someone of like physique or personality," said John Alford, the study''s lead author.
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On a scale of 0 to 1, where 1 means perfectly matched, physical traits (body shape, weight and height) only score between 0.1 and 0.2 among spouse pairs. Personality traits, such as extroversion or impulsivity, are also weak and fall within the 0 to 0.2 range.
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By comparison, the score for political ideology is more than 0.6, higher than any of the other measured traits except frequency of church attendance, which was just over 0.7.
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The study adds to recent "sorting research" that has uncovered a surprising level of uniformity in Americans'' personal political communication networks -- where they live, with whom they socialize and where they work.
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The new research shows that this sorting doesn''t stop with the selection of neighborhoods or workplaces, however. It''s also visible in choice of spouses, Alford said.
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"It suggests that, perhaps, if you''re looking for a long-term romantic relationship, skip ''What''s your sign?'' and go straight to ''Obama or Palin?''" he said.
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"And if you get the wrong answer, just walk away," he added.
The study was published in the April issue of the Journal of Politics.
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