PH
“Find someone just like you” sounds like sensible dating advice.
But real-life attraction can be more complicated.
Researchers examined attraction during actual speed dates and tested similarity, reciprocity, security, and physical attractiveness.
They found no evidence that similarity was driving initial attraction in this particular study.
Physical attractiveness was the strongest predictor for both men and women.
But attraction also contained a unique person-to-person component.
That means someone can be widely attractive while another person can be attractive specifically to you.
Dating chemistry isn't necessarily a personality-matching contest.
© Journal of Personality (2009)