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Assortative mating for relative weight: genetic implications

D B Allison1, M C Neale, M I Kezis

  • 1Obesity Research Center, Saint Luke's/Roosevelt Hospital, Columbia University College of, Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York 10025, USA. DBA8@Columbia.edu

Behavior Genetics
|March 1, 1996
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Engaged couples show a small but significant similarity in relative body weight, indicating assortative mating. This weight similarity does not predict marriage survival, offering unique insights into genetic and environmental influences on weight.

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral Genetics
  • Human Physiology

Background:

  • Genetics of relative weight often overlooks assortative mating.
  • Assortative mating, mate selection based on similarity, is a key factor in understanding trait inheritance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate assortative mating for relative body weight in engaged couples.
  • To determine if pre-marital weight similarity predicts marital stability.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of an archival longitudinal database of engaged individuals.
  • Statistical correlation of relative body weight between partners, controlling for age.

Main Results:

  • A statistically significant, albeit small, positive correlation for relative weight was found between engaged partners (r=.13, p=.023).

Related Experiment Videos

  • No significant association was observed between pre-marital weight similarity and marriage survival.

    • Conclusions:

    • Findings confirm a modest but significant intermate correlation for relative weight.
    • These results are not attributable to cohabitation, age similarity, or selective marriage survival, providing robust evidence for assortative mating in body weight.