He is a jerk. She has no sense of humor. His knees are too knobby. She sounds like a small child when she talks. He is immature. She does not remind me of my mom enough?
These are a few examples of excuses one may hear, or give, when the ride of love comes to an abrupt halt.
Even the excuse, "sorry, you are not enough like my mom," has been used.
The variables that affect this opinion are based on circumstances such as experience and relationships with parents.
"It all depends on the impact one's parents have made in their life and what one thinks of their parents," said Matt Snow, sophomore in mathematical education.
When it comes to dating, Snow is interested in finding someone similar to his mother.
"My mom has had a huge impact on my life," Smith said. "I value her opinion and thoughts. It is cool when you can go to your mom and tell her that your girlfriend reminds you of her, at least I think my mom likes it."
Laura Hester, senior in supply chain management, said "people are attracted to people who remind them of someone they admire."
Katie Goode, senior in nursing, made a comment that supported this claim.
"Since my dad has been one of my greatest examples in my life, I think it's only natural that I look for someone to date who is similar to him," Goode said. "I think it's a good thing to date someone who is similar to your parents; it just means your parents are pretty much guaranteed to love him."
Reasons for attraction may not be positive.
Jamie Sailors, director of undergraduate internships with the College of Human Development and Family Studies, said that the early attachment relationship between a child and the primary care giver also influences to whom people are attracted.
If a child's parent neglects to show his or her child love, or if a child observed his or her parents abusive relationship, the child would not realize it is unhealthy to be treated in the same way because it is familiar.
This verifies that people are sometimes attracted to people with similar characteristics of their parents, even if the relationship was not good.
"People try to fulfill their broken relationships (with their parent) through someone else," Sailors said. "That would explain why good girls or guys are attracted to the bad girls or guys."
There is one more idea to answering this question, and it is science.
A study performed at a university in Austin, Texas, determined that attraction is based on specific sets of genes called Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC).
It is suggested that MHC plays a role in mate selection via olfaction (sense of smelling).
According to the study, MHC genes make molecules that enable the immune system to recognize invaders.
In general, the more diverse the MHC genes of the parents, the stronger the immune system of the offspring.
It would be beneficial, therefore, to have evolved systems of recognizing individuals with different MHC genes and preferentially selecting them to breed with.
Based on this fact, parents do play a role in who their child is attracted to, and who attracts them.
There is no sense in fighting the inevitable truth of what a large role a parent plays in their child's life.
Although there are underlying facts, theories and ideas that influence who people are attracted to, there is no definite answer to the question, "Are people more attracted to people like their parents?"
But that does not mean one cannot use the excuse "He is not enough like my dad" to get out of a bad dating situation. Some students encouraged it.
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