LONDON, Ontario, July 27 (UPI) -- Canadian researchers say our genes partly determine how we select our spouses or best friends.
The researchers at the University of Western Ontario in London said a study of twins showed people's spouses and best friends are much more similar to them than was previously recognized or about as close as brothers and sisters.
The study also suggested the preference for partners who are similar to us is partly due to our genes.
Its findings are reported in the July 2005 issue of Psychological Science, a journal of the American Psychological Society.
Several hundred pairs of identical and fraternal twins, their spouses, and their best friends were sent a 130-item questionnaire that measured social background, personality, and attitudes. Twins turned out to be as similar to their spouses and friends as they were to their fraternal twins, though not as similar as they were to identical twins, the study said.
"From arrays of possible alternatives, people seek those compatible with their genotypes," the authors wrote. "People prefer their own kind ..."
