It is a maxim that many pronounce. When we refer to the friendship We bet on those we consider equal to us, but when we talk about love relationships, the disparity of opinions grows. What’s more, most people believe that we prefer to maintain romantic relationships with very different people. This leads us to ask ourselves two questions: do animals choose making the same distinction, that is, discriminating whether they are looking for a potential companionship relationship or a partner to mate with?
The answers illustrate how humans operate on a quasi-instinctive level when it comes to these judgments.
At the outset, we must point out that animals really constitute friendships among themselves. Just like humans, some of these friendly relationships can be volatile or stable for many years. Although it is well known that enjoying friends brings certain benefits it takes time and effort to maintain these links.
We humans may have to face a long list of uncomfortable situations which we only do thanks to this feeling of friendship: answering a call from your friend at two in the morning consoling him for his emotional breakup. Chimpanzees, for example, can spend long periods of time delousing the heads of their friends.
Research
Regardless of whether we are talking about humans or apes, how do we decide who we want to be friends with? What could be the key: age, gender, social status, personality…?
A recent study investigating the factors that predict friendship relationships among chimpanzees discovered that Individuals with similar personalities were more likely to be friends Massen, J. (2013) reported that extroverted chimpanzees related to extroverts, while more shy individuals did the same with other shy individuals. The most playful and playful black baboon primates interacted with each other. On the other hand, those who were more reserved and distant related more to each other, although obviously in a way consistent with their personality.
Regardless of whether we are talking about human beings, chimpanzees, or baboons, it is clear that friendship relationships are decided based on similarity.
So what happens to romantic relationships? Are we attracted to the opposite?
The answer is No
The white-faced barnacle (a type of anseriform bird) prefers to mate with specimens of similar size. In the same way, the chickadee (a pair-like bird) does this with individuals with a similar personality. This trend not only occurs in birds, but in humans as well. Despite the popular belief that opposites attract, data shows that married couples tend to be extremely similar on a wide variety of traits.
Until a few years ago, researchers They didn’t know for sure if shared traits arose over time as a couple, or they were similar traits from before the couple met. A study recently published by Tognetti, Berticat, Raymond and Faurie (2014) has opened new windows on this issue. They found that residents of a rural region of Senegal chose to marry someone who was as cooperative and friendly with others as the individual themselves.
Perhaps for this reason in the animal world it is more interesting to mate with other individuals similar in size, personality or other factors. Opposites may attract, but the tendency is that we prefer things similar to ourselves
Plato wrote: “Similarities breed friendship.” Did he forget to mention whether this maxim also applies to romantic or sexual relationships? Possibly not. This probably explains why friendship is often, on many occasions, the best scenario when it comes to establishing romantic relationships.
