Why we choose partners that look like us?

It's not only our pets that look like us but often the partners we choose do too. I did a little research in my first post but decided to do some more as i find it very interesting. Many of us are shallow and prefer it when our partners have an equal amount of attractiveness (obviously i will be marrying someone as good- looking as Johnny Depp or David Beckham).

Also we look for an other half that resemble and look like family members. For me this is accurate as my Father and two older Brothers are; strong, quite powerful men, sociable and take care of their appearance. I like; manly men, quite aggressive also who is domineering but sometimes has a romantic side.

In America most people marry people within the same racial group. This is positive assortative mating, when people marry someone similar to themselves for example; a small person marries a small person, when white marries white or when an ugly person marries an ugly person.
A reason for this could be when you are seen with a partner you want to look good together, not too look odd and be noticed when walking down the street. When I see a women who is taller than their husband, or a skinny guy with a really large women I find it quite strange. This could also be why we choose our pets, for instance a lot of young women celebrities have small dogs because they are small and pretty, it makes more sense to have a small pretty dog beside them rather than them being dragged around by a large slobbering dog. As you wouldn't want a partner who likes to eat hamburgers in a fast food restaurant when you like to go for nice Italian meals, we choose people and pets who are similar for a reason. The reason why is usually subconscious, we don't always think about it just we live in a vein society, and one where we don't always like difference.

When coming across a picture of kylie Minogue and her dog, it made me think about the theory of opposites attracting and why this might be, or might not work out. Kylie is a petite women, but chooses to have a large dog, also her recent boyfriends have been tall, dark. This maybe why she isn't married she needs to find someone more like herself.

Another psychologist i have found explained;
"In Western society, humans use neither an 'opposites-attract' nor a 'reproductive-potentials-attract' rule in their choice of long-term partners, but rather a 'likes-attract' rule based on a preference for partners who are similar to themselves across a number of characteristics."