What’s Your Type? Relationship Study Shows New Partners Are Often Similar To Old Ones

你的另一半是什么样的？情侣关系的研究表明，新伴侣往往与旧伴侣相似

What do you look for in a partner? In the dating world, it’s very common for singles to seek out someone similar to themselves. Now, a study from the University of Toronto shows that not only do people prefer romantic partners similar to themselves, but also a partner who is similar to their previous partners, too.

你想要什么样的伴侣？在约会的世界里，单身人士常会寻找与自己相似的人。现在，多伦多大学的一项研究表明，人们不仅喜欢找和自己相似的伴侣，也喜欢找和前任相似的伴侣。

The study suggests that people do indeed have a specific “type” when it comes to romance. After people get out of a bad relationship, it’s very common for them to decide that they need to date someone totally different. Turns out it may be very difficult for them to escape their “type.”

研究表明，人们在恋爱时确实会有特定的“类型”。当人们走出了一段糟糕的关系后，他们通常会决定要和一个完全不同的人约会。然而事实证明，他们可能很难摆脱自己喜欢的“那一款”。

“It’s common that when a relationship ends, people attribute the breakup to their ex-partner’s personality and decide they need to date a different type of person,” says lead author Yoobin Park, a PhD student in the Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Arts & Science at the University of Toronto, in a press release. “Our research suggests there’s a strong tendency to nevertheless continue to date a similar personality.”

“当一段关系结束时，人们会把分手归因于前任的性格，他们会下定决心要和一种不同类型的人约会,这是很常见的。”文章第一作者，多伦多大学艺术与科学学院心理学系博士生Yoobin Park在一份新闻稿中表示：“我们的研究表明，尽管如此，人们还是倾向于继续与相似性格的人约会。”

The study analyzed the personalities of the past and current partners of 332 individuals. They were asked to assess how much they agreed or disagreed with statements about their personality on a five-point scale. These statements included things like, “I am usually modest and reserved,” “I trust others easily,” and, “I am interested in many different kinds of things.”

这项研究分析了332个人前任和现任的性格，这些人被要求用五分制来评估他们在多大程度上同意或不同意关于他们性格的陈述。这些陈述包括“我通常是谦虚内敛的”、“我很容易相信别人”、“我对很多不同的事情都感兴趣”。

The analysis reveals that the past partners of individuals have very similar personalities to their current partners. “The degree of consistency from one relationship to the next suggests that people may indeed have a ‘type’,” says Geoff MacDonald, a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto.

分析表明，前任和现任有着非常相似的性格。“从一段关系到下一段关系的一致程度表明，人们可能确实有一种‘类型’。”多伦多大学心理学系教授Geoff MacDonald表示。

The data also show that partners’ personalities are often more similar than they are to themselves. “Though our data do not make clear why people’s partners exhibit similar personalities, it is noteworthy that we found partner similarity above and beyond similarity to oneself,” MacDonald notes.

数据还表明，前任和现任的性格往往比和本人的性格更相似。MacDonald指出：“虽然我们的数据并没有解释为什么人们的伴侣会表现出相似的性格，但值得注意的是，我们发现前任和现任之间性格的相似性远远超过了和他们自身的相似性。”

The researchers comment on the uniqueness of their study. “Our study was particularly rigorous because we didn’t just rely on one person recalling their various partners’ personalities,” says Park. “We had reports from the partners themselves in real time.”

研究人员说明了他们研究的独特性。“我们的研究非常严格，因为我们不只是依靠一个人来回忆他们不同伴侣的性格。” Park说：“我们还得到了他们伴侣自己的实时报告。”

The findings of these studies can help people navigate the romantic world a little better. If they find that they’re running into the same hiccups in relationship after relationship, they can try and identify the personality traits in their partners that lead to the same conflicts arising over and over again.

这些研究的发现可以帮助人们更好地畅游浪漫世界。如果他们发现在一段又一段关系中他们都遇到了同样的问题，那就可以试图找出伴侣的性格特征，而正是这些性格特征导致了同样的冲突一次又一次地发生。

Park concludes by suggesting ways people can use these findings to their advantage: “In every relationship, people learn strategies for working with their partner’s personality. If your new partner’s personality resembles your ex-partner’s personality, transferring the skills you learned might be an effective way to start a new relationship on a good footing.”

Park总结说，人们可以将这些研究结果利用在自己身上：“在每一段关系中，人们都要学习如何处理伴侣的性格。如果你现任的性格和你前任的性格相似，那么直接照搬你之前的做法可能是一种有效的方式，能让你的新关系有一个良好的基础。”

The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

这项研究发表在《美国科学院院报》上。

翻译：MS小冰晶