title: Understanding The Role of Mate Selection Processes in Couples' Pair-Bonding Behavior.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, California State University, Fullerton, H-710I Humanities Building, Fullerton, CA, 92831, USA. bhorwitz@fullerton.edu.
authors.forename: Briana N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Horwitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Chandra A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.affiliation: Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Hasse
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Walum
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Jody
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ganiban
authors.affiliation: Office of Behavioral Sciences and Social Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Erica L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Spotts
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reiss
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinksa Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lichtenstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Jenae M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Neiderhiser
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003380:Courtship / Q000523:psychology*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D018454:Spouses; D013548:Sweden; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000235:genetics; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000235:genetics
keywords: Assortative mating; Marital quality; Mate selection; Pair-bonding behavior; Phenotypic assortment; Social homogamy