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From an early age we are all taught that opposites attract, but how true is that? As it turns out, this isn’t true at all. When it comes to people and relationships this is something that we should all be aware of.

We are not more likely to fall in love with people who are different from us, we are more likely to fall for people we have things in common with. Around 80 percent of people believe that opposites attract, but there isn’t really very much evidence to support this. We are actually attracted the most to features that our parents had when we were young.

According to research from St. Andrews, because we see our parents as our first caregivers we seek people like them when it comes to who we fall for. This being within reason, of course. A study done in 2002 showed that women born to parents who were older were less impressed by people who were younger when it came to potential romantic partners.

It seems we might actually even be able to sense whether or not someone is similar to use in our genetics. Research that was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that spouses tend to be a lot more genetically similar than any 2 random individuals. This is also the same for people who are close friends. Have you ever noticed that you were more trusting to people who looked similar to you? Research has shown that we are more likely to trust people we have things in common with even if we don’t necessarily know them.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes opposites do attract but most of the time there is a lot more to it than that even if we don’t realize it. The more we have in common the more likely we are to do well together. Looking for your ideal partner should not include trying to find someone who is your polar opposite.

For more on this please feel free to check out the video below. Do you have things in common with your significant other or are you opposites? Every relationship is different but it seems popular belief is a bit off.