TY - JOUR
T1 - Understanding The Role of Mate Selection Processes in Couples’ Pair-Bonding Behavior
AU - Horwitz, Briana N.
AU - Reynolds, Chandra A.
AU - Walum, Hasse
AU - Ganiban, Jody
AU - Spotts, Erica L.
AU - Reiss, David
AU - Lichtenstein, Paul
AU - Neiderhiser, Jenae M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2016/1/1
Y1 - 2016/1/1
N2 - Couples are similar in their pair-bonding behavior, yet the reasons for this similarity are often unclear. A common explanation is phenotypic assortment, whereby individuals select partners with similar heritable characteristics. Alternatively, social homogamy, whereby individuals passively select partners with similar characteristic due to shared social backgrounds, is rarely considered. We examined whether phenotypic assortment and/or social homogamy can contribute to mate similarity using a twin–partner design. The sample came from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden, which included 876 male and female monozygotic and same-sex dizygotic twins plus their married or cohabitating partners. Results showed that variance in pair-bonding behavior was attributable to genetic and nonshared environmental factors. Furthermore, phenotypic assortment accounted for couple similarity in pair-bonding behavior. This suggests that individuals’ genetically based characteristics are involved in their selection of mates with similar pair-bonding behavior.
AB - Couples are similar in their pair-bonding behavior, yet the reasons for this similarity are often unclear. A common explanation is phenotypic assortment, whereby individuals select partners with similar heritable characteristics. Alternatively, social homogamy, whereby individuals passively select partners with similar characteristic due to shared social backgrounds, is rarely considered. We examined whether phenotypic assortment and/or social homogamy can contribute to mate similarity using a twin–partner design. The sample came from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden, which included 876 male and female monozygotic and same-sex dizygotic twins plus their married or cohabitating partners. Results showed that variance in pair-bonding behavior was attributable to genetic and nonshared environmental factors. Furthermore, phenotypic assortment accounted for couple similarity in pair-bonding behavior. This suggests that individuals’ genetically based characteristics are involved in their selection of mates with similar pair-bonding behavior.
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U2 - 10.1007/s10519-015-9766-y
DO - 10.1007/s10519-015-9766-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 26573626
AN - SCOPUS:84958185271
SN - 0001-8244
VL - 46
SP - 143
EP - 149
JO - Behavior Genetics
JF - Behavior Genetics
IS - 1
ER -