Infographic: Men’s And Women’s Biggest Relationship Dealbreakers

Most scientific research on attraction and mating preferences has focused on what we desire in a romantic or sexual partner. But what about the things that completely turn us off–the relationship “dealbreakers,” if you will–what traits and characteristics are we motivated to avoid? And how do the number and nature of relationship dealbreakers differ across the sexes? For a look at the answer, check out the infographic below.

These data come from a new set of six studies published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. I’ve only summarized results from one of the six studies reported in this paper here, but I encourage you to check out the full paper if you want to learn more about this topic. The other studies offer a look into how dealbreakers differ in short- vs. long-term relationships (dealbreakers are a bigger deal in LTRs), how mate value and mating strategies are related to dealbreakers (people with higher mate value and a more restricted mating strategy have more dealbreakers), as well as how people weigh dealbreakers against “dealmakers” (it seems that negative information is weighed more strongly than positive information).

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Photo Image Source: 123RF/Pavel Ignatov