
“Opposites attract” and “you need someone just like you” are both oversimplifications.
Research involving romantic couples has examined whether personality similarity predicts relationship satisfaction.
Although partners can resemble each other on certain characteristics, greater similarity across broad personality traits doesn't consistently translate into substantially greater satisfaction.
A partner can therefore differ from you in meaningful ways without automatically being incompatible.
How two people communicate and respond to those differences can matter greatly.
Compatibility isn't simply a personality-matching percentage.
Sometimes a good relationship involves learning how two different personalities fit together rather than finding your psychological clone.
© Journal of Research in Personality