Do opposites really attract each other?

It is often said that Opposites attract.

It is a maxim that many pronounce. When we refer to friendshipwe bet on those we consider equal to us, but when we talk about love relationships, the disparity of opinions grows. What's more, most people believe that we prefer to be romantically involved with very different people. This leads us to ask two questions: do animals choose by making the same distinction, that is, discriminating if they are looking for a potential companion relationship or a partner to pair?

Do opposites attract?

The answers enlighten us on how humans operate on a quasi-instinctual plane when it comes to such judgments.

From the outset, we must point out that animals really constitute friendships between them. Like humans, some of these friendly relationships can be volatile or stable for many years. Although it is well known that enjoying friendships brings certain benefitsIt takes time and effort to maintain these links.

Humans may have to face a long list of uncomfortable situations which we only do thanks to this

feeling of friendship: answer a call from your friend at two in the morning, consoling him for his emotional breakdown. Chimpanzees, for example, can spend long periods of time delousing the heads of their friends.

Research

Regardless of whether we are talking about humans or apes, how do we decide who we want to be friends with? What could be the key: age, gender, social status,personality???

A recent study investigating the factors that predict friendship relationships between chimpanzees found that chimpanzees individuals with similar personalities were more likely to be friends. Massen, J. (2013) reported that extroverted chimpanzees were related to extroverts, while the more timid individuals did the same with other timid specimens. The most playful black baboon primates and sobones interacted with each other. By contrast, the most reserved and distant were more related to each other, although obviously in a way according to their personality.

Regardless of whether we are talking about human beings, chimpanzees, baboons, it is clear that friendship relationships are decided based on similarity.

So what about love relationships? Does the opposite attract us?

The answer is not.

The white-faced goose (a type of anseriform bird) prefers to mate with specimens of similar size. In the same way, the chickadee (a pair-shaped bird) does it with individuals with a similar personality. This tendency not only occurs in birds, but in humans as well. Despite the popular belief that opposites attract, data shows that married couples tend to be extremely alike on a wide variety of traits.

Until a few years ago, researchers They did not know for sure if the shared traits occurred with the time that they shared as a couple, or they were similar traits from before the couple met. A study recently published by Tognetti, Berticat, Raymond and Faurie (2014) has opened new windows to this question. They found that the inhabitants of a rural region of Senegal chose to marry someone who was as cooperative and friendly with others as the individual himself.

Perhaps for this reason in the animal world it is more interesting to mate with other individuals similar in size, personality or other factors. Opposites can attract each other, but the trend indicates that we prefer the similar to ourselves.

Plato wrote: "Similarities breed friendship." Did you forget to mention if this maxim also applies to love or sexual relationships? Possibly not. Probably this explains why friendship is often the best scenario when it comes to establishing romantic relationships.