Especially during my single period, I was often asked the question:“What is your type of man anyway?” Often I knew how to describe some qualities of my ideal future man:"sporty, self-confident, humor". To this I would add that it had to be a “real man”, whatever that means.
Table of Contents
A few weeks ago I came across an interesting study that examined whether each of us actually has a specific type of man or woman when it comes to romance. The researchers also wondered whether certain people are more likely to choose the same type of partner than other people. In this article I will tell you more about this! Are you reading along?
Being or not in a relationship remains a popular theme. Think of the relationship between André Hazes and Bridget Maasland and the relationship that has just ended between Monica Geuze and Lars Veldwijk. The (broken) relationships are widely reported in the press and we follow it all closely.
Love and relationships will always remain interesting topics. Why? Being or not in a relationship has a major impact on you as a person and the life you lead. Love makes happy. Some love to go through life as single, but the majority of people (ultimately) look for a loving relationship; someone you want to grow old with. It's not for nothing that programs like First Dates and All You Need Is Love so wildly popular. Love makes people vulnerable and vulnerability is human and beautiful.
Besides the love lives of the famous Dutch, we also find the love lives of our own friends very interesting (at least I do). Let's be honest:As soon as one of my girlfriends goes through life as a single again, I can't resist helping her find the perfect new partner. After all, being in love is the nicest feeling there is and we especially want that feeling for the people we love so much ourselves.
Above I wrote briefly about a new study into partner choice, namely research by Park &MacDonald (2019). These two researchers conducted a longitudinal study (over several years) in Germany and looked at the consistency or inconsistency between the types of people people have had relationships with in the past and the type of man or woman they are currently in a relationship with. .
The research shows that there is indeed a specific type of man or woman that people are attracted to. This is not about two almost identical people, but there is indeed a large overlap between the characters. In addition, it is not the case that the ex-partner and the partner resemble the person in question. So it's not that people choose people who look like them (not a kind of search kind, so to speak).
Another striking result of the research is that extroverts do not choose the same types when it comes to love. This can probably be explained by the fact that extroverts are more looking for adventure and new experiences!
The above research actually shows that based on algorithms, the choices made in the past can predict the choices still to be made in the future. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? . Park &MacDonald (2019) indicate that it is important to examine the possible consequences of the results of the research. If we always opt for a certain type, then we have to somehow ensure that we do not fall into the same pitfalls and actually create a successful relationship for the long (!) term. Wouldn't that be fantastic?
What do you think about this? Do your (ex) partners resemble each other or not at all? Do you think you have a certain type of man or woman when it comes to love?
Love, Dear
