Similar to and/or better than oneself? Singles’ ideal partner personality descriptions

TY - JOUR

T1 - Similar to and/or better than oneself?

T2 - Singles’ ideal partner personality descriptions

AU - Liu, Jie

AU - Ludeke, Steven

AU - Haubrich, Julia

AU - Gondan, Matthias

AU - Zettler, Ingo

N1 - This article earned Open Data and Open Materials badges through Open Practices Disclosure from the Center for Open Science: https://osf.io/tvyxz/wiki. The data and materials are permanently and openly accessible at https://osf.io/t43sb/. Author's disclosure form may also be found at the Supporting Information in the online version.

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - Using the HEXACO Model of Personality, we explored two kinds of ideal partner preferences regarding personality traits, namely, to what extent people prefer partners similar to themselves (similarity preference) and to what extent people prefer partners with more desirable trait levels than themselves (aspirational assortative preference). We conducted five studies (overall N > 900) across four countries (China, Denmark, Germany, and the USA), looking at both HEXACO factors and facets, using both self-report questionnaires and real-life data (personal profiles from a dating website), and comprising both student and more heterogeneous samples. The results provided support for both kinds of ideal partner preferences, with important differences across traits. Specifically, similarity preference was supported by all studies concerning all HEXACO traits, and aspirational assortative preference was supported by all four self-report studies (though not the dating website study) concerning all HEXACO traits except for Openness to Experience. Concerning differences in preferences among the HEXACO traits, similarity preference was particularly pronounced for Honesty–Humility and Openness to Experience, moderate for Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, and less pronounced for Emotionality and Extraversion. Aspirational assortative preference, by contrast, was particularly pronounced for Emotionality, Extraversion, and Agreeableness, moderate for Honesty–Humility, and inconsistent for Conscientiousness.

AB - Using the HEXACO Model of Personality, we explored two kinds of ideal partner preferences regarding personality traits, namely, to what extent people prefer partners similar to themselves (similarity preference) and to what extent people prefer partners with more desirable trait levels than themselves (aspirational assortative preference). We conducted five studies (overall N > 900) across four countries (China, Denmark, Germany, and the USA), looking at both HEXACO factors and facets, using both self-report questionnaires and real-life data (personal profiles from a dating website), and comprising both student and more heterogeneous samples. The results provided support for both kinds of ideal partner preferences, with important differences across traits. Specifically, similarity preference was supported by all studies concerning all HEXACO traits, and aspirational assortative preference was supported by all four self-report studies (though not the dating website study) concerning all HEXACO traits except for Openness to Experience. Concerning differences in preferences among the HEXACO traits, similarity preference was particularly pronounced for Honesty–Humility and Openness to Experience, moderate for Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, and less pronounced for Emotionality and Extraversion. Aspirational assortative preference, by contrast, was particularly pronounced for Emotionality, Extraversion, and Agreeableness, moderate for Honesty–Humility, and inconsistent for Conscientiousness.

KW - HEXACO

KW - ideal partner preference

KW - ideal standards

KW - mate preference

KW - singles

U2 - 10.1002/per.2159

DO - 10.1002/per.2159

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0890-2070

VL - 32

SP - 443

EP - 458

JO - European Journal of Personality

JF - European Journal of Personality

IS - 4

ER -