Forming Relationships and the Matching Hypothesis

Couples' similarity in physical attractiveness was hypothesized to be related to the formation of dating relationships. Subjects were 67 couples who were members of a dating service. Behavioral steps the couples had taken to form dating relationships were determined. These behaviors ranged from refusing to reveal one's surname and telephone number to the other, to going out on a second date. Taking these steps was correlated with couples' similarity in physical attractiveness despite factors thought to attenuate the effect of appearance on dating: an older subject population, and the availability of information about a potential partner's age, occupational status, personality, and interests.