The romantic myth that 'opposites attract' has been around for centuries.
From Beauty and the Beast to the Little Mermaid, many popular fairy tales are centred around couples coming together in spite of their glaring differences.
But according to decades of scientific research, opposites tend to find each other repulsive.
In the mid-1950s, the sociologist Robert Francis Winch argued that, when it comes to our personalities, what matters is not similarity but complementarity.
Based on his studies of spouses, he suggested that individuals would be attracted to others who possess personality traits that they lack.
An assertive woman, for example, would be attracted to a submissive man while an extroverted man would be attracted to an introverted woman.
As it turns out, there is almost no evidence to support this hypothesis. Studies of friends and spouses consistently find that two individuals are more likely to be friends and spouses if they are similar in terms of their personalities.
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