Think You Know What’s Important When Choosing a Partner? This Study May Surprise You

A recent study done by the University of Luxembourg has found out that from all the factors that make up our personalities, only a few are really important when it comes to to selecting a partner for life. 

What’s important, however, is the combination.

 If you look at finding a partner through the cold, hard lens of science, it’s a little bit like finding a job: you are looking for somebody who fits you. Only the criteria are different to those in the job market: after all, an employer doesn’t care if his future boss is tall or short, heavy or slim. Physical attributes do play a part however, when it comes to selecting a partner.

But height and weight are only two out of many criteria. And, as the Professor for Economics Arnaud Dupuy has found out, they are not even the most important.

The Economist has analyzed data which were collected during a study in the Netherlands, and found out that out of all the factors which play into selecting a life partner, education and personality are the most important.

Dupuy and his French colleague Alfred Galichon focused on ten criteria: height, weight, education, health, risk tolerance, as well as the 5 personality traits conscientiousness, openness, agreeableness, emotional stability and extraversion.

Through Saliency Analysis they looked at the relationship the different factors have with each other and came up with some interesting insights on combined character and physical traits, and how well they combine with another person’s traits.

Education and Personality are the most important factors

The level of education is important, and the character traits are equally so. For instance, the scientists found out that emotional stable men and conscientious women are attracted to one another. Another successful combination were agreeable, considerate men and introvert women. 

In order to be successful at finding your life partner, you need to carefully examine your expectations

 The study gives important insight about the expectations of men and women. It also shows that not the single criteria are decisive, but the combination of certain criteria. As an example, Dupuy mentions height. Whether a man is tall or short, is not decisive. But if a man is tall and not educated, he will not be very successful.

At Luxdates, we put a lot of emphasis on character traits and level of education (Luxdates Founder, Claudia Neumeister, MA, is a certified Big 5 Personality Assessor). 98% of our members are educated to Bachelor level or higher and we do a thorough character analysis before accepting a client. 

Are you looking for your soulmate who complements you? Contact us at [email protected]