"Opposites attract"
Pop Psychology
Surface-level novelty may attract initially. But research consistently finds that similarity in values, communication styles, life goals, and personality…
**Reality: More myth than fact.** Surface-level novelty may attract initially. But research consistently finds that similarity in values, communication styles, life goals, and personality predicts long-term relationship satisfaction better than complementarity. The phrase is real as an initial attraction phenomenon; it's not a foundation.
Evidence
Pop Psychology
As an empirical claim, opposites attract earns Pop Psychology because the research points the other way. Decades of studies on attraction find that similarity, in attitudes, values and personality, predicts liking and relationship satisfaction, while genuine complementarity has little support (Montoya and Horton, 2013, meta-analysis). Perceived similarity matters even more than measured similarity. People do sometimes pair on a few complementary traits, but the headline saying, that difference is what draws couples together and keeps them there, is not what the evidence shows.