Similarity is also influential in determining whom we fall in love with. Contrary to the old adage that opposites attract, people who fall in love often share common beliefs, values, attitudes, interests, and intellectual abilities (Graf & Schwartz, 2011; Morry et al., 2011). We also are inclined to pair romantically with people whose level of physical attractiveness is similar to our own (Garcia & Markey, 2007; Taylor et al., 2011; van Straaten et al., 2009).
We also tend to be attracted to people who are similar to us in age, educational status, and religious affiliation. Similarity in personal characteristics is referred to as homophily, or the tendency to form relation — | ships with people of similar or equal status in various social and personal | attributes. Data from the NHSLS reflecting homophily in age, educa — I tional status, and religion for various types of relationships appear in ■ Table 7.1.
Love and Commnunication in Intimate Relationships
■ TABLE 7.1 Percentage of Couples in Various Types of Relationships That Are Homophilous for Age, Educational Status, and Religion
Type of Relationship
|
Type of Homophily |
Marriage (%) |
Cohabitation (%) |
Long-Term Partnership (%) |
Short-Term Partnership (%) |
|
Age (defined as difference of no more than 5 years in partners’ ages) |
78 |
75 |
76 |
83 |
|
Educational status (defined as difference of no more than one educational category3) |
82 |
87 |
83 |
87 |
|
Religion (defined as having same affiliation) |
72 |
53 |
56 |
60 |
|
aCategories: Less than high school, high school graduate, vocational training, 4-year college degree, postgraduate SOURCE: Adapted from Laumann et al. (1994). |
The NHSLS also revealed that people generally tend to form partnerships with people of similar race and ethnicity. The following Sexuality and Diversity discussion describes this dimension of attraction.