Chemistry, 6 years from its genesis.

Six long years ago, during December 2004, Dr. Helen Fisher was contacted by the people from Match to create Chemistry, the last innovation at Match, a compatibility matching method.

Up to now, she had published 2 posters and 1 paper.

Interesting to read them, although she CAN NOT prove her matching algorithm, used at Chemistry, can match prospective partners who will have more stable and satisfying relationships than couples matched by chance, astrological destiny, personal preferences, searching on one's own, or other technique as the control group in a peer_reviewed Scientific Paper.


POSTER "Four Primary Temperament Dimensions Based on Neurochemistry"
Personality is composed of two basic types of traits:
traits that an individual acquires, dimensions of character;
and
traits with biological underpinnings, dimensions of temperament (Cloninger 1987).

Temperament is mediated by many factors and can be only indirectly associated with neurochemical data.
Data were collected on all four scales on an Internet dating site (Chemistry), regularly between 2006-2007 until reliability was obtained in a United States sample of 39,913 anonymous men and women.
Participants completed demographic information, the Fisher-Rich-Island Neurochemical Questionnaire (FRI-NQ), and validity questions, with the goal of finding a romantic partner.  Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 88 years (M = 37.0; SD= 12.6); 56.4% were female (N = 22,521); 89.6% (N = 35,759) were seeking an opposite-sex partner; and 45.2% (N = 18,035) had children. 
The FRI-NQ measure was placed on an international dating site in 39 other countries, beginning in January 2008, and data to measure reliability were collected on 15,000 individuals in each of these translations: German, French, Spanish, English (Australian sample), and Swedish.  
All individuals expressed all four temperament dimensions; yet individuals varied in the degree to which they expressed each.
* Dopamine and Norepinephrine (DA/NE)
* Serotonin (5-HT)
* Testosterone (T)
* Estrogen and Oxytocin (E/OT)
As predicted, men and participants who reported their occupation as engineering scored higher on the proposed T scale, women and participants who indicated they were teachers scored higher on E/OT.  On the proposed 5HT scale, persons reporting a religious affiliation obtained the highest mean score, followed by persons describing themselves as 'spiritual but not religious', with the lowest scores obtained by those describing themselves as agnostics or atheists.  Persons describing their friends as 'Adventurous' tended to score higher on the proposed DA/NE scale.



POSTER "Four Primary Temperament Dimensions in the Process of Mate Choice"
The purpose of this investigation was to examine the role of temperament in the INITIAL attraction phase of mate choice.
Cross-cultural surveys, brain imaging studies, population and molecular genetics, comparative research and twin studies suggest that many traits of temperament are heritable, relatively stable across the life course and linked to specific gene pathways and/or hormone or neurotransmitter systems. 
Participants from the online website Chemistry who provided consent for inclusion in research were selected for this study. The final sample comprised 28,128 male (n=17,776) and female (n=10,352) heterosexual adults, who provided data on their selections for a first meeting with a potential romantic partner and who gave a non-negative (positive or blank) rating of their partner after returning from the first date were selected for the analysis.
A 56-item temperament measure, the Fisher-Rich-Island Neurochemical Questionnaire (FRI-NQ) was used to assess compatibility between participants.
Participants were anonymous adults who regularly used Chemistry dating site between 2006-2007 for the purpose of finding a romantic partner. Participants were selected based on their research consent and the release of their SELF-REPORTED demographic, dating, and personality data.  The final scales were VALIDATED on a sample of 39,913 participants from this dating site.
Similarity attracted among those predominantly expressive of the proposed  dopamine/norepinphrine and serotonin scales; while opposites attracted among those predominantly expressive of the proposed testosterone and estrogen/oxytocin scales. 
A study of long term married opposite-sex couples is currently underway to assess the durability of initial biological attraction.
Also Dr. Heidi Island from Pacific University is preparing the paper:
"Temperament as a Mechanism for Mate Choice: an hypothesis and pilot study."



PAPER "The Second to Fourth Digit Ratio: A Measure of Two Hormonally-based Temperament Dimensions"
"Individuals who reported a longer 4th finger relative to 2nd expressed high scores on the proposed testosterone scale; individuals who reported a longer 2nd finger relative to 4th or 2nd and 4th digits of equal length expressed high scores on the proposed estrogen/oxytocin scale."



 









---------------------------

Please remember personality = temperament + character
Latest Research in Theories of Romantic Relationships Development shows: compatibility is all about a high level on personality* similarity** between prospective mates for long term mating with commitment.
*Although no actual fresh paper uses the 16PF normative personality test (they mostly use different versions of the normative Big5 personality test instead) and linear or logistic multivariate regression equations to calculate similarity, they clearly show a connection between personality similarity and marital happiness / dyadic success (stability and satisfaction) for some persons.
**Similarity is a word that has different meanings for different persons or companies, it exactly depends on how mathematically is defined.



Also there is a similarity trilogy between genetic, mate choice and personality based recommender systems.