personality traits are highly stable

In a previous paper
"Personality trait change in adulthood." Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 31-35. Roberts, B. W. & Mroczek, D. (2008).


shows personality traits are highly stable in persons over 25 years old to 45 years old.
(the group of persons who could be most interested in serious online dating)

now a new paper is replicating that finding.

"Genetic and environmental influences on personality trait stability and growth during the transition to adulthood: A three wave longitudinal study. "
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. (2010)
Hopwood, C.J., Donnellan, M.B., Blonigen, D.M., Krueger, R.F., McGue, M., Iacono, W.G., & Burt, S.A. (in press).

http://psychology.msu.edu/Faculty/FacultyMember.aspx?netid=donnel59


Abstract

During the transition to adulthood individuals typically settle into adult roles in love and work. This transition also involves significant changes in personality traits that are generally in the direction of greater maturity and increased stability.
Competing hypotheses have been offered to account for these personality changes: the intrinsic maturation hypothesis suggests that change trajectories are endogenous, whereas the life-course hypothesis suggests that these changes occur because of transactions with the social environment. This study investigated the patterns and origins of personality trait changes from ages 17 to 29 using 3 waves of Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire data provided by twins.
Results suggest that
a) trait changes were more profound in the first relative to the second half of the transition to adulthood;
b) traits tend to become more stable during the second half of this transition, with all the traits yielding retest correlations between .74 and .78;
c) negative affectivity declined over time and constraint increased over time; minimal change was observed on agentic or communal aspects of positive affectivity;
and
d) both genetic and non-shared environmental factors accounted for personality changes.
Overall, these genetically-informed results support a life-course perspective on personality development during the transition to adulthood.


The transition to adulthood between the ages of 18 and 30 involves significant psychological development with regard to intimacy, identity, work, and parenthood. These changes are also accompanied by both stability and change in personality traits. However, debates exist regarding whether exogenous or endogenous factors are more responsible for personality development during this period of the lifespan. Accordingly, the goal of this study was to evaluate genetic and environmental influences on personality stability and change during the transition to adulthood using three waves of personality trait data. Specifically, we examined the etiological influences on stability and change in the higher order personality traits of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ; Tellegen & Waller, 2008) using a sample of twins assessed in late adolescence (approximately age 17), emerging adulthood (approximately age 24), and young adulthood (approximately age 29).

Participants were same-sex male and female monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins from the Minnesota Twin Family Study (MTFS), which is a population-based sample of reared-together twins (Iacono & McGue, 2002).

This study used MPQ data from a cohort born between 1972 and 1979 who were identified in Minnesota public birth records and recruited to participate at approximately 17 years of age (range = 16-18 years).

At baseline there were 626 complete pairs of twins (Women nMZ = 223, nDZ = 114; Men nMZ = 188, nDZ = 101).

Twins were reassessed at the average ages of 24 and 29.


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If you are an executive in the Online Dating Industry, be aware of these findings. The Online Dating Industry for serious daters can not ignore Scientific Research any more.

[I had also suggested consider to synchronize with menstrual cycle of women not taking contraceptive pill and biorhythms for women, and biorhythms in men when Researchers assess personality, in test & retest.
because
"Human oestrus" Gangestad & Thornhill (2008)
"Does the contraceptive pill alter mate choice in humans?" Alvergne & Lummaa (2009)
show only short-term but not long-term partner preferences tend to vary with the menstrual cycle.]

FriendScout24's BQ-Check

FriendScout24's - BeziehungsQuotienten-Check (BQ-Check)

I had read an interview of Prof. Dr. Manfred Hassebrauck at
http://www.singleboersen-vergleich.de/interviews/experte-hassebrauck.htm

FriendScout24's relationship test, the BQ-Check, is another HOAX in the Online Dating Industry for serious daters.


"The algorithm developed for FriendScout24's relationship test, the BQ-Check, was developed by Professor Dr. Manfred Hassebrauck, a renowned social psychologist from the University of Wuppertal in Germany. He has been working in the area of relationship research for more than 25 years. The relationship test is a result of Hassebrauck's long lasting research done regarding partnership and marriage with more than 35,000 couples. Indeed, there are many matching offerings available in the market. Often, they compare character features based on the principle: The more the personalities match and the lower the differences, the better the partners fit together. Developing the FriendScout24 relationship test, a different approach was taken. Scientific research results show that the sole similarity of character features not necessarily are a precondition for a satisfying relationship. Therefore, the partner suggestions at FriendScout24 are not primarily focused on character features, but on features that are key for successful loving relationships. These are emotional intimacy, independence, mutual interests and sexual preferences. For example, for a satisfying relationship, it is important that both partners have the same expectations from the relationship. Do they want to have a short or long term partnership and do they want to have children? Do they want to stay independent or do they prefer to spend as much time together as possible? These are crucial points in a relationship, but many people do not talk about it during the first time of their relationship. FriendScout24's BQ-Check avoids constellations that will lead to disappointment in the long run. The chance that a relationship works after singles have done the BQ-Check depends on many external, uncontrollable circumstances. A partner may change his job, the relationship becomes a long distance relationship all of a sudden, you fall in love with another person, you figure out that you can't stand the other person's body odor and much more. The relationship test is well-founded, but still it can happen that a relationship will not work even though the BQ-Check showed good results. But generally, the higher the BQ, the higher the chance for a happy loving relationship."

To my best knowledge Prof. Dr. Manfred Hassebrauck have not proven (without revealing proprietary information) that FriendScout24 compatibility matching algorithm, BQ-Check, can match prospective partners who will have more stable and satisfying relationships (and a low divorce rate) 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 for public and Academic scrutiny of findings.

Latest Research in Theories of Romantic Relationships Development outlines: compatibility is all about a high level on personality similarity between prospective mates for long term mating with commitment.

spousal similarity for personality

Is spousal similarity for personality a matter of convergence or selection?

abstract:
We investigated whether spousal similarity for personality traits results from convergence (i.e., couples becoming more similar to one another over time) or selection (i.e., individuals selecting partners with similar traits) in a sample of 1296 married couples. Personality was assessed using the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. We evaluated whether similarity increased with increasing length of marriage. Evidence of spousal convergence was inconsistent across analyses, arguing against this mechanism as a compelling explanation for spousal similarity. Accordingly, selection processes may better explain spousal similarity in these data. The one exception might be for aggressive aspects of personality.

Even in a sample of young adults, Donnellan et al. (2007) found similarly sized correlations for Communal Positive Emotionality, Negative Emotionality, and Constraint (rs = .13, .17, and .22, respectively), suggesting young adults and those in established marriages have similar levels of similarity on personality dimensions. Couples were married an average of 19.8 years (SD = 5.4), with a range of 2–39 years Table 1 summarizes all analyses examining whether spousal similarity is associated with length of marriage.

In that paper
Personality was assessed using a 198-item version of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire.
Similarity was calculated using several methods, with linear and nonlinear regression analyses to predict the absolute value difference score between husbands and wives for all variables examined as suggested by Kenny, D. A., Kashy, D. A., & Cook, W. L. (Eds.). (2006). Dyadic data analysis. Guilford Press. [The method I had invented LIFEPROJECT METHOD is far superior] Specifically, although difference scores may capture level similarity (similarity in absolute trait scores of partners), they cannot capture shape similarity across dimensions of personality. To calculate profile correlations, individual trait scores were first meandeviated (following Kenny et al., 2006) and then a correlation was calculated between husbands' and wives' scores on the MPQ superfactors for each couple (i.e., all four wives' superfactor scores were correlated with all four husbands' superfactor scores). This procedure was repeated for the 11 lower-order scales. However, neither of these profile correlations were correlated with length of marriage (both rs = .04, p > .05).

You can also see "An exercise of similarity".

Understanding that spousal similarity is not primarily driven by convergence may prove important for research concerning personality traits and relationships. The results suggest that selection processes are probably more important than spousal socialization processes for understanding the origins of spousal similarity in personality. The one exception, again, might be traits related to aggression which deserves further attention. ... Assortative mating will also effectively increase the likelihood of genetic transmission of parental traits to their biological offspring (Fisher, 1918).

This paper is consistent with the Latest Research in Theories of Romantic Relationships Development, which outlines: compatibility is all about a high level on personality* similarity* between prospective mates for long term mating with commitment.
*personality measured with a normative test.
*similarity: there are different ways to calculate similarity, it depends on how mathematically is defined.
Without offering the 16PF5 (or similar test measuring exactly the 16 personality factors) for serious dating, it will be impossible to innovate and revolutionize the Online Dating Industry.

eVow's compatibility matching system

"eVow uses a innovative compatibility matching system, we created specifically for people who are serious about finding long-term partnerships. It is a unique relationship site for singles who are serious about finding that special someone and are ready to share their values and expectations with like-minded people."


eVow's compatibility matching system does not have any scientific proof. I suspect it is only "home grown" based on similar interests, values and birth order item.
It does not include any personality assessment nor personality similarity calculation.
eVow's compatibility matching system asks if you have or not children, if you are living with your children or not, but to my surprise does not ask about your pets.

Birth order item is useless at all.

Birth order item is also used at the PlentyOfFish Marriage Predictor.
"When you were a kid your perception of love and how you perceive love was shaped by your parents and your siblings.
We want to dramatically improve our matching system by taking into account your childhood environment"

Eastwick and Finkel (2008), also Kurzban and Weeden (2007), Todd, Penke, Fasolo, and Lenton (2007) found that people often report partner preferences that are not compatible with their choices in real life!


Latest Research in Theories of Romantic Relationships Development outlines: compatibility is all about a high level on personality similarity between prospective mates for long term mating with commitment.

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The Online Dating Industry is selling elixirs, tonics, snake oil liniments and other patent medicine.
Patent medicines were preparations that often contained various ingredients such as opium and alcohol and claimed to cure many if not all diseases. Early drug manufacturers made their own formulations and marketed them under a variety of names.
Pharmacists or Doctors would set up a small building with tablet machines or ointment mills and began manufacturing their drugs. This went on without any interference from any government agency. One could make any claim and engage in drug making without any credentials.
With time the growing pharmaceutical companies were required to prove the safety of their drugs but not efficacy. But by the 1960's efficacy as well as safety were required to be shown for a drug to remain on the market.

Meetic decadence

MEET.PA shares
21 OCT 2007 Euros 31.43 and dropped to
17 OCT 2008 Euros 8.99 then recovered to
13 SEP 2010 Euros 23.41

Meetic and premium services as MeeticAffinity, MatchAffinity, DatingDirectAffinity, PartnerDE are in decadence since 1Q 2009, losing traffic and customers.



The IAC (InterActiveCorporation) owns 27% of shares.
Perhaps the other owners know Meetic is going to be GAME OVER soon and want to convert those shares in cash.

Jazzed (eHarmony) & eVow (PlentyOfFish)

Recently eHarmony had launched Jazzed, a free low quality online dating proposal, and now PlentyOfFish launched eVow, a Search Engine intended to be a paid online dating site.
Jazzed was designed to compete with PlentyOfFish and OKCupid.
Nobody is going to pay for a Search Engine, because PlentyOfFish and OKCupid are free.
People pay for online dating 3.0 "Compatibility Matching Algorithms" like Chemistry and eHarmony.



In 5 previous posts I had written about how the PlentyOfFish Marriage Predictor is a a HOAX, a complete SCAM.
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com/2010/06/plentyoffish-marriage-predictor-5th.html
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com/2010/06/plentyoffish-marriage-predictor.html
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com/2010/05/plentyoffish-and-birth-order-item.html
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com/2010/05/plentyoffish-screenshots.html
http://onlinedatingsoundbarrier.blogspot.com/2010/05/plentyoffish-new-test.html



Online Dating Sites can be classified as:
1.0: "Browsing/Searching Options, Powerful Searching Engines"
1.5: "Unidirectional Recommendation Engines"
2.0: "Matching based on Self-Reported Data / Bidirectional Recommendation Engines"
3.0: "Compatibility Matching Algorithms"

Free/freemium online dating sites like PlentyOfFish and OKCupid are only good to send prospective customers to paid online dating sites like Chemistry and eHarmony.

Free/freemium online dating sites are marketing tools, when free users got tired of free sites, they migrate to a paid one; or they use free sites for fun (flirting) and paid sites 3.0 for serious relationships.

The 2010 revenue of PlentyOfFish is USD 30million, the revenue of Match/Chemistry is over USD 340 million, the revenue of eHarmony is estimated over USD 250 million.


PlentyOfFish is big and strong in Canada, United States, Australia and the United Kingdom, the same markets where eHarmony is also big and strong.
eHarmony had been spending money at PlentyOfFish, showing eHarmony's ads.
I am not sure if eHarmony also places ads at OKCupid. (I mostly use Firefox browser with AdBlock plus add-on and I never see ads)

Jazzed is FREE and it will always be FREE for ever. It is not designed to compete with Match, a 2.0 site. Jazzed was designed to compete with PlentyOfFish and OKCupid.
eHarmony will spend USD 90 million during this year for marketing campaings, eHarmony can easily run Jazzed for free (perhaps operating costs are only USD 3 million per year).
Jazzed is designed to leverage eHarmony, a FREE site to leverage a PAID one.

The questions when you are filling your profile include:
"Are you looking for a long-term relationship that could lead to marriage?"
"Do you personally know someone who has had success with online dating?"


The success rate* of eHarmony is less than 10%.
*success rate == percentage of persons who leave the site because they found someone compatible.
The majority, over 90% of eHarmony's members are not going to achieve a long term relationship with commitment (or marriage) using that site.

eHarmony is going to be "the Heaven" and Jazzed "the Purgatory".
eHarmony can clean its database from undesirable persons (and improve its success rate) sending them to Jazzed (the Purgatory)
and when they grown up, when they mature enough for a long term relationship with commitment in mind, then Jazzed will move those persons to eHarmony, "the Heaven".

The Online Dating Industry needs innovations, but the innovations the Online Dating Industry needs will come from only one source: the Latest Research in Theories of Romantic Relationships Development with commitment.
Latest Research in Theories of Romantic Relationships Development outlines: compatibility is all about a high level on personality* similarity* between prospective mates for long term mating with commitment.
*personality measured with a normative test.
*similarity: there are different ways to calculate similarity, it depends on how mathematically is defined.
Without offering the 16PF5 (or similar test measuring exactly the 16 personality factors) for serious dating, it will be impossible to innovate and revolutionize the Online Dating Industry.

Basisnote / free online test (DiscoverYourScentType)

Basisnote launched a free online test (DiscoverYourScentType)

The results can be

Perfume Blue Men
Perfume Red Men
Perfume Yellow Men
Perfume Green Men

Perfume Blue Women
Perfume Red Women
Perfume Yellow Women
Perfume Green Women


"To help determine your personal ScentTypeTM, the scientists at Basisnote have devised a simple, online quiz that should take no more than a few minutes of your time.

Our researchers, with the cooperation of a professional perfumer, have broken down the essential categories of scent into a few distinct families. While the fundamental ingredients of these different perfume families have been in use since recorded history, most of them are not well known to the general public. Consequently, we have sought to find examples that will be familiar from everyday life.

Scent helps trigger feelings of love and pleasure in the brain. It aids in the formation of longlasting memories and can affect human behavior both directly and subtly.

An online test such as this will never be as conclusive or informative as a complete scent breakdown such as our ScentOfLove kit, but it will provide a first step toward a better understanding of your personal biology and your search for the perfect match."


PART 1: SCENT & ENVIRONMENT
PART 2: SCENT & SPICES
PART 3: FRAGRANT & FLOWERS
PART 4: FRAGRANT & MEMORABLE


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Basisnote, GenePartner, ScientificMatch and other proposals offering DNA matching are only based on the T_shirt Experiment that only proved:
normally cycling women (not pregnant and not taking contraceptive pills) are (temporarily) attracted by the perspiration scent of clothes used by men with a Major Histocompatibility Complex MHC more dissimilar to theirs,
and not proved: women attracted by those men for long term mating with commitment.

2 Scientific Papers debunk their claims.
1) "Human oestrus" Gangestad & Thornhill (2008)

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/275/1638/991.full.pdf

"Only short-term but not long-term partner preferences tend to vary with the menstrual cycle"

2) "Does the contraceptive pill alter mate choice in humans?" Alvergne & Lummaa (2009)

http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2009/10/07/1254931423-tree_final_proofs.pdf

".. whereas normally cycling women express a preference for MHC (Major Histocompatibility Complex) dissimilarity in mates, pill users prefer odours of MHC-SIMILAR men, indicating that pill use might eliminate adaptive preferences for genetic dissimilarity."
................
"Recently, Roberts et al. attempted to eliminate these potential confounds by adopting a within-subject design in which women's mate preferences were assessed before and after they began taking the pill. Women starting the pill showed a significant preference shift towards MHC SIMILARITY compared with three months before the pill was taken, a shift that was not observed in the control group of normally cycling women."



Persons can mask their own body odor using antiperspirants / deodorants / perfume fragrances.
The paper "Cross-adaptation of a model human stress-related odour with fragrance chemicals and ethyl esters of axillary odorants: gender-specific effects" at Flavour and Fragrance Journal April 2009
Dr. Charles Wysocki (behavioral neuroscientist) and Dr. George Preti (organic chemist) exposed subjects to a potent elixir of armpit. Then they tried to mask those odors with a series of pleasant fragrances, supplied by a firm that supplies manufacturers of products that control or mask underarm odor. Sniffed alone, the underarm odors smelled equally strong to men and women. When fragrance was introduced, only 2 of 32 scents successfully blocked male underarm odor when women were doing the smelling; in contrast, 19 of 32 fragrances significantly reduced the strength of female underarm odor for men. Women are less easily confused than men in their ability to detect body odor, but they can be confused using the right fragrance to mask body odor.


What is important in attracting people to one another may not be important in making couples happy.
Latest Research in Theories of Romantic Relationships Development outlines: compatibility is all about a high level on personality* similarity* between prospective mates for long term mating with commitment.
*personality measured with a normative test.
*similarity: there are different ways to calculate similarity, it depends on how mathematically is defined.

eHarmony Brazil, 3 news / price

The fake female dummy profile I had created there received its firsts matches.

After the 3 months trial period, the price will be BRL 29.95 == USD 18, per 3 months period, but they ask you for a credit card.
Match, Meetic, Be2 and others had been spending millions of U.S. Dollars since years and until now they do not understand the Latin American culture.
Latin Americans do mostly not have credit cards.
The ones who have credit cards, do mostly not use them for subscriptions.


They had corrected the video and personality report, now they are in Portuguese.

2 failed proposals: 12like & LittleHint

Alexa shows

12like and LittleHint

are 2 failed proposals.
Those teams never understood how to innovate in the online dating arena.

12like uses (used) VisualDNA image test (a HOAX)

and

LittleHint offers GenePartner DNA matching as optative (another HOAX)


GenePartner DNA matching is quite similar to BasisNote

Be2 game over

Be2 game over


In a previous post I had written about Be2


The team never understood how to innovate in the online dating arena.

How much money did they lost?

13 Nov 2008 ... Index Ventures has invested Euros 15 million in be2 dot com ( not be2 dot net, another company)