Homogamy, Personality, and Mate Choice Among Heterosexual and Homosexual Men

Several former studies have suggested that mates resemble each other in various personality traits. In the recent study Big Five Inventory was used to examine similarities and differences on fundamental dimensions of personality in heterosexual people. Additionally, we predict that homogamy also occurs in homosexual people, which was based on the recent evidence that gay men's mate preferences are hardly distinguishable from those of heterosexual men. However, our hypotheses were not supported by our data. No significant correlations have been found between mates in personality traits in neither heterosexuals, nor homosexuals. At the same time, an interesting result - more exactly, a lack of a significant relationship - was found: compared to heterosexuals, homosexuals, on average, did not show difference in any of the five subscales of Big Five Inventory. The measured similarities in personality traits correspond with some recent studies that concluded that homosexuals have the same set of psychological mechanisms, including sexual mental processes that heterosexuals do, except for sexual orientation. This argument is strongly supported by the modularity conception that states that domain-specific cognitive algorithms are responsible for guiding particular behavioral traits.