Do opposites attract? Attractiveness and differences among couples. 30 Aug 2016

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Do opposites attract? We look at two studies of couples who are different in some way. Are couple who don't match in attractiveness less trusting of another? And do couples who have different body shapes attract prejudice and discrimination?

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“Date Someone Your own Size”
♪ When You’re in Love With a Beautiful Woman (or Handsome Man)… ♫

Is your partner bigger or smaller than you, and what does this mean for your relationship? bingham30069/Flickr

The articles covered in the show:

Collisson, B., Howell, J. L., Rusbasan, D., & Rosenfeld, E. (in press). “Date someone your own size”: Prejudice and discrimination toward mixed-weight relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. Read summary

Oltmanns, J. R., Markey, P. M., & French, J. E. (in press). Dissimilarity in physical attractiveness within romantic dyads and mate retention behaviors. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. Read summary

Just after I posted this episode, I read about this new study by Sela and colleagues which was also really interesting: it's like the Oltmanns' mate retention study except with self-ratings of attractiveness.