Only a few studies have examined complementarity in existing romantic relationships: In one study, in which undergraduate students rated their own parents» personalities, complementarity appeared quite often, but greater complementarity was actually seen in divorced than still - married couples.5 Another study
of romantic couples found very little complementarity, except within highly satisfied couples.6 Yet another study found good evidence for the phenomenon, with couples being similar on
affiliation and opposite on dominance.7 Finally, a study
of same - sex female couples found no
similarity on
affiliation and found that those who had opposite personalities when it came to dominance were actually less satisfied with their relationships.8 As can be plainly seen, these results are quite inconsistent.