Do people choose spouses who are like their parents?

New from the Journal of Research in Personality:

Both psychoanalytic views of attachment and evolutionary theories of imprinting suggest that mates may be preferentially chosen to resemble one’s parents. Using data from a large Dutch study of twins and their families, we tested these hypotheses with regard to personality traits from the Five-Factor Model. Little evidence of parent/spouse similarity was found, although women did tend to select a husband who resembled their parents with regard to Openness to Experience. This effect may be due to the influence of Openness on their social worlds, rather than to their experiences in early childhood.

Fearful women love tough men

A new research article in Evolution and Human Behavior found that women who are fearful of crime are more likely to prefer men who are aggressively dominant and physically formidable for long-term partners. They argue that aggressiveness is not an unalloyed good in a partner since these types of men are more likely to be abusive, unreliable, and unfaithful. Perceived payoff is greater if the woman inhabits a dangerous environment and lacks the resources to protect herself.

Using a sample of mostly white female Internet respondents, the authors reported that greater fear of crime, higher levels of neighborhood violent crime during childhood, and lower levels of education predicted preference for a "manlier" man. The childhood effect suggests that some of the preference becomes established perhaps during the sociosexually important teen years. 

The authors should have considered individual differences (e.g., neuroticism) as well as differences in circumstances. (Their approach seems typical for cowardly evolutionary psychologists. Race, of course, is smoothed over in the study.)

To all you betas out there looking for a partner: the lesson is to associate with more educated women; to live in places where women are safe; and to advocate for the type of society where social order is a top priority.