Study Shows Paula Abdul has Been Wrong for 35 Years
My wife and I are a perfect match, however, we are total opposites in many ways. One of us likes sports a lot more than the other. One of us likes movies and TV Shows about aliens and ghosts, and one of us isn’t as passionate about the subject. One could argue that we are sort of opposites, but we are attracted to each other. So does that mean, in our relationship, opposites attract? I believe so.
However, there’s a new study that appears to claim that Paula Abdul was wrong. Is that possible? I believe so.
The old saying “opposites attract” is always used when we talk about couples and relationships. However, according to a new study, the old saying “birds of a feather flock together” may make more sense.
The results were published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. The article is romantically titled “Evidence of correlations between human partners based on systematic reviews and meta-analyses of 22 traits and UK Biobank analysis of 133 traits.”
It appears that the long title is trying to convey that people tend to attract and be attracted to people like themselves. The research shows that it could be the level of education, religion, political beliefs, smoking habits, and drinking habits.
The researchers found that the percentage of couples whose partners had similar traits was as high as 89%. That’s compared to the 3% who were found to be “substantially different.”
“Assortative mating” is the clinical term for when people merge with others like them.
The study looked at the numbers from close to 200 research papers on partnerships. The papers date back about 120 years to the early 1900s. They cross-referenced that with information from about 80,000 opposite-sex couples who took part in the U.K.’s Biobank initiative.
There is one other thing that is worth noting. Couples with differing psychological traits such as introverts and extroverts do tend to be attracted to one another.
The Most Unexpected Celebrity Match-Ups
Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson
The pair met on the set of Saturday Night Live in 2021 when Kim was the host. Kim dated Pete for nine months, following her split from Kanye West, making this match up pretty shocking. Pete has dated many famous people over the years, so it has become a running joke on social media to nominate Davidson to date the next single Hollywood star. He even got a few tattoos and even branded Kim’s name on him!
Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly
The actress, who is four years older than the rapper-turned-rocker, has plans to marry MGK. The pair first met on the set of the thriller Midnight in the Switchgrass in March 2020. Fox later appeared as Kelly’s love interest in his music video for “Bloody Valentine.” By July, the couple had confirmed their relationship when they gave their first joint interview, where Fox called Kelly her “twin flame.” There were rumors of a split between the couple amidst cheating allegations, but it seems as though the couple got through it and are working on their relationship.
Grimes and Elon Musk
The Tesla, SpaceX, and X CEO and musician Grimes made headlines when they stepped out at the 2018 Met Gala together. Since then, they’ve been on-and-off relationship, during which they’ve welcomed two children. In early 2022, Grimes told Vanity Fair, “I would probably refer to him as my boyfriend, but we’re very fluid. We live in separate houses. We’re best friends. We see each other all the time.”
