Abstract
A similar pattern of spousal association for IQ scores and personality traits was found in two British samples from Oxford and Cambridge. There was no indirect evidence from either sample to suggest that convergence occurred during marriage. All observed assortative mating might well be due to initial assortment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahern, F. M., Johnson, R. C., and Cole, R. E. (1983). Generational differences in spouse similarity in educational attainment.Behav. Genet. 13:95–98.
Bouchard, T. J., and McGue, M. G. (1981). Familial studies of intelligence: A review.Science 212:1055–1059.
Buss, D. M. (1984). Marital assortment for personality dispositions: Assessment with three different data sources.Behav. Genet. 14:111–123.
Crow, J. F., and Felsenstein, J. (1968). The effects of assortative mating on the genetic composition of a population.Eugen. Q. 15:85–97.
Eysenck, H. J. (1970). Personality and attitudes to sex: a factorial study.Personality 1:355–376.
Harrison, G. A., Gibson, J. B., Hiorns, R. W., Wigley, J. M., Hancock, C., Freeman, C. A., Kuchemann, C. F., Macbeth, H. M., Saatcioglu, A., and Carrivick, P. J. (1974). Psychometric, personality and anthropometric variation in a group of Oxfordshire villages.Ann. Hum. Biol. 1:365–381.
Harrison, G. A., Gibson, J. B., and Hiorns, R. W. (1976). Assortative marriage for psychometric, personality and anthropometric variation in a group of Oxfordshire villages.J. Biosco. Sci. 8:145–153.
Jensen, A. R. (1978). Genetic and behavioral effects of nonrandom mating. In Osborne, R. T., Noble, C. E., and Weyl, N. (eds.),Human Variation: Biopsychology of Age, Race and Sex, Academic Press, New York, pp. 51–105.
Johnson, R. C., DeFries, J. C., Wilson, J. R., McClearn, G. E., Vandenberg, S. G., Ashton, G. C., Mi, M. P., and Rashad, M. N. (1976). Assortative marriage for specific cognitive abilities in two ethnic groups.Hum. Biol. 48:343–352.
Mascie-Taylor, C. G. N. (1977).Divergence and Gene Flow in Drosophila and Man, Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Cambridge University, Cambridge.
Mascie-Taylor, C. G. N. (1988). Assortative mating in relation to psychometric characters. In Mascie-Taylor, C. G. N., and Boyce, A. J. (eds.),Human Mating Patterns, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Mascie-Taylor, C. G. N., and Gibson, J. B. (1979). A biological survey of a Cambridge suburb: Assortative marriage for IQ and personality traits.Ann., Hum. Biol. 6:1–16.
Pennock-Roman, M. P., Vandenberg, S. G., and Mascie-Taylor, C. G. N. (1989). Assortative mating and mate selection (submitted for publication).
Price, R. A., and Vandenberg, S. G. (1980). Spouse similarity in American and Swedish couples.Behav. Genet. 10:59–71.
Roberts, D. F. (1977). Assortative mating in man: Husband/wife correlations in physical characteristics.Bull. Eugen. Soc. Suppl. 2.
Spuhler, J. N. (1968). Assortative mating with respect to physical traits.Eugen. Q. 15:128–140.
Vandenberg, S. G. (1972). Assortative mating, or who marries whom?Behav. Genet. 2:127–157.
Watkins, M. P., and Meredith, W. (1981). Spouse similarity in newly-weds with respect to specific cognitive abilities, socio-economic status and education.Behav. Genet. 11:1–21.
Wechsler, R. D. (1958).The Measurement an Appraisal of Adult Intelligence, Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore.
Zonderman, A. B., Vandenberg, S. G., Spuhler, K. P., and Fain, P. R. (1977). Assortative marriage for cognitive abilities.Behav. Genet. 7:261–271.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This work was supported in part by grants from the Marie Stopes Research Fund, Medical Research Fund, and Nuffield Foundation.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mascie-Taylor, C.G.N. Spouse similarity for IQ and personality and convergence. Behav Genet 19, 223–227 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065906
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065906