MATCHING HYPOTHESIS OF LOVE

If you were to ask a group of friends, “To whom are you attracted?” they would probably name very attractive people; in fact, they would probably name the most attractive people they know. But if we were to observe these friends, we would find that they go out with and establish relationships with people who are quite similar to themselves in terms of physical attractiveness. Useful in this connection if the matching hypothesis, which states that although we may be attracted to the most physically attractive people, we date and mate with people who are similar to ourselves in physical attractiveness. Intuitively, this too seems satisfying. In some cases, however, we notice discrepancies; we notice an old person dating an attractive younger partner of an unattractive person with a handsome partner. In these cases, we will probably find that the less attractive partner possesses some quality that compensates for the lack of physical attractiveness. Prestige, money, intelligence, power, and various personality characteristics are obvious examples of qualities that may compensate for being less physically attractive.