PASADENA, Calif. – August 6, 2007 – According to a new research study, the more similar married and dating couples are in their personalities and emotions the more satisfied they are with their relationship. The findings appear in the July issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Dr. Gian C. Gonzaga, Sr. Research Scientist at eHarmony Labs, and co-authors Belinda Campos and Thomas Bradbury, both of the University of California, Los Angeles, report findings from two studies in this paper. The first study analyzed a cross-sectional sample of dating couples, while the second followed newlywed married couples over the course of a year early in their marriage. Both studies measured the partners’ personalities, the emotions they felt when speaking to each other, and how satisfied they were with their relationship.

Key Findings

• Dating and married partners were more similar to each other than to other people.
• The more similar partners were in their personality or emotional experience the more satisfied they were with their relationship.
• Newlywed couples who became more similar in personalities and emotions were less likely to experience a decline in relationship satisfaction early in their marriage.

Conclusion

• Similarity in personality likely effects relationship satisfaction by shaping couples day to day emotional experience in ways that have significant impact on the relationship.

“Over the years, researchers have increasingly found that similarity between partners relates to better relationship functioning,” said Dr. Gonzaga, “Our research adds to this by providing a reason why similarity promotes better relationships. Partners who are similar in broad dispositions, like personality, are more likely to feel the same way in their day-to-day lives. This may make it easier for partners to understand each other.” Gonzaga added, “The most interesting finding is that newlywed couples who became more similar over time had relationships that were stronger than those who became less similar over time. These longitudinal changes provide compelling evidence for the positive effects of similarity on relationships”

About eHarmony Labs

eHarmony Labs is the only industry laboratory of its kind researching the initiation, growth and maintenance of life’s most important relationships. In-person research is conducted within a laboratory setting, featuring four observational rooms and a state-of-the-art digital video control room. eHarmony Labs is comprised of a staff of five PhD researchers, all of whom are recognized experts on human relationships.

PASADENA, Calif., May 24, 2007 – Underscoring its ongoing commitment to helping people build satisfying and happy long term relationships, eHarmony Labs announced the launch of a free Relationship Check-Up for couples in a serious dating relationship. This new relationship tool will help couples identify the strengths and weaknesses of their relationship while providing them with personalized tips on how to improve those areas of their relationship that will bring them closer together. The free Relationship Check-Up is available at http://www.eharmony.com/labs/.

“We pride ourselves on developing scientifically validated products that will help people strengthen their relationships and what better way to demonstrate that commitment than by offering a free Relationship Check-Up,” said Dr. Galen Buckwalter, vice president of Research and Development. “Couples not only get an assessment of their relationship, but they also receive personalized advice on how to strengthen that special bond they share.”

The Relationship Check-Up was specifically designed for couples who are in a serious dating relationship (at least 3 months or longer). Each partner answers a 60-item questionnaire and then receives instant access to their assessment results and relationship advice. This assessment has been developed by the relationship and measurement experts at eHarmony Labs. Those who are married, casually dating, or single can try out other free assessments and tools at http://www.eharmony.com/labs/.

eHarmony Labs is led by a team of five Ph.D.s with expertise in the fields of psychology, sociology and human relations. The Labs team is setting out to more deeply understand the social, psychological and physiological processes that make relationships successful, from their inception through the entire lifecycle of marriage and family.

To ensure continued scientific excellence, eHarmony Labs has formed a Scientific Advisory Board. This multidisciplinary, world class panel of scientists includes: Thomas Bradbury, Ph.D. (UCLA), John Cacioppo, Ph.D. (University of Chicago), David Kenny, Ph.D. (University of Connecticut), Bruce McEwen, Ph.D. (Rockefeller University), and Linda Waite, Ph.D. (University of Chicago).

eHarmony Labs is the only industry laboratory of its kind researching the initiation, growth and maintenance of life’s most important relationships. In-person research is conducted within a laboratory setting, featuring four observational rooms and a state-of-the-art digital video control room. eHarmony Labs is comprised of a staff of five PhD researchers, all of whom are recognized experts on human relationships.

Pasadena, Calif. – February 5, 2007 – eHarmony, the Internet’s #1 trusted relationship service, today announced the launch of eHarmonyLabs, becoming the first online relationship service to launch a commercial research organization dedicated to the study of human relationships. eHarmonyLabs will research the initiation, growth and maintenance of life’s most important relationships, and leverage its findings to bring to market new products and services designed to improve the health and longevity of those relationships. The lab, led by a team of five PhDs with expertise in the fields of psychology, sociology and human relations, reflects eHarmony’s academic roots. The company’s patented eHarmony Compatibility Matching System, is based on the first National Study of Marriages conducted in the late 1990s.

eHarmonyLabs will focus on conducting in-person and virtual research with the goal of understanding the processes that make relationships successful, from their inception through the entire lifecycle of marriage and family. The 2000 square-foot facility features four observational rooms and a state-of-the-art digital video control room. Online research will be conducted using a wide range of new assessment instruments to evaluate the development of self in the context of social relationships. eHarmonyLabs will disseminate its research findings through academic publications and forums and www.eHarmonyLabs.com.

“Establishing this research facility is a milestone toward our goal of becoming the world’s leading relationship company,” said Gregory Waldorf, CEO. “eHarmonyLabs will have the full support and resources it needs to make significant contributions to the field of relationship research while breaking new ground in the field. This academic-level research will also enable us to develop unique services that will enhance the relationships of people throughout the world.”To ensure continued scientific excellence, eHarmonyLabs has formed a Scientific Advisory Board. This multidisciplinary, world class panel of scientists includes: Thomas Bradbury, PhD (UCLA), John Cacioppo, PhD (University of Chicago), David Kenny, PhD (University of Connecticut), Bruce McEwen, PhD (Rockefeller University), and Linda Waite, PhD (University of Chicago). For biographies visit, http://www.eharmony.com/labs/advisory.

“Too often important relationship research findings are disseminated to only a small audience of academic researchers and are not reported to the general public,” said Dr. Galen Buckwalter, Vice President of Research and Development. “In this environment where important knowledge is not widely known many unqualified individuals can and do deliver advice and guidance that has little – if any – scientific support.” Buckwalter added, “eHarmonyLabs will conduct and support top caliber research and educate the public about important relationships research by disseminating findings, reports and results widely, frequently and accurately. By uniting academia and science, we will also be able to develop services that will improve relationship functionality.”

The first study conducted under the auspices of eHarmonyLabs, directed by Dr. Gian Gonzaga, is studying the phenomenon of interpersonal chemistry. Single couples after completing extensive online questionnaires, are meeting in-person for the first time in the eHarmonyLabs observational laboratories. After meeting the couples rate their chemistry, or the initial feeling that they really “clicked” with the person. This is the first appropriately designed study of this central aspect of intimate relationships. “The inability to predict who will and who will not experience chemistry,” reported Dr. Gonzaga, “has been a crucial missing link in online relationship services. Our ability to include chemistry in our matching models will be a decisive advance in helping people build successful relationships while also contributing to academic relationship science.”

eHarmony is one of the few successful products developed entirely by academic researchers using accepted scientific techniques. In 1997, Dr. Neil Clark Warren, co-founder of eHarmony, began collaboration with Dr. Galen Buckwalter, then a Professor at the University of Southern California. Together they developed the first National Study of Marriages. Soon joined by Dr. Steven Carter, the team’s research identified the pattern of profiles between husbands and wives that was consistently associated with the most successful marriages. This research was the basis for the now patented eHarmony Compatibility Matching System™ and has served as the foundation for a new generation of relationship research through the auspices of eHarmonyLabs.

The eHarmonyLabs research team includes: Galen Buckwalter, PhD (Vice President, Research & Development), Steve Carter, PhD (Sr. Director, Research & Product Development), Patrick Giordani, PhD (Director of Matching),Gian Gonzaga, PhD (Sr. Research Scientist), Erina Lee, PhD (Research Scientist), and Heather Setrakian, MA (Project Coordinator/Research Associate). For biographies visit, http://www.eharmony.com/labs/research.

eHarmony Labs is the only industry laboratory of its kind researching the initiation, growth and maintenance of life’s most important relationships. In-person research is conducted within a laboratory setting, featuring four observational rooms and a state-of-the-art digital video control room. eHarmony Labs is comprised of a staff of five PhD researchers, all of whom are recognized experts on human relationships.

As part of ongoing efforts to monitor and improve the success of its groundbreaking, patent-pending Compatibility Matching System, eHarmony recently released the results of its latest research. The research indicates that couples who were matched by eHarmony, the Internet’s fastest growing relationship service, and have married, are significantly happier than couples married for a similar length of time who met by other means. Over 90% of eHarmony couples had marriage quality scores which were above average when compared to couples who had begun their relationships elsewhere. eHarmony couples were more than twice as likely to be in highly successful marriages than non-eHarmony couples. “This news is another clear indication that the eHarmony matching algorithm works,” said Dr. Neil Clark Warren, clinical psychologist and founder of eHarmony. “Not only are eHarmony couples 35% more likely than other married couples to report that they enjoy spending time together, but we found they are nearly twice as likely to report that their marriages are “extremely happy” or better versus other recently married couples.”

The research surveyed 1,320 married couples, 273 of which were couples introduced via eHarmony.com. The goal of the study was to determine if marriages between eHarmony’s highly compatible couples are more successful than marriages “in general.” The research was conducted by psychologist Dr. Steve Carter, eHarmony’s director of research and product development, and research associate at the University of Southern California. Click here to see the complete research paper.

In order to ensure scientific validity, the measure of marital satisfaction used was the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) developed by Dr. Graham Spanier. The DAS has been used in more than 1,000 published studies since it was introduced in 1976, and it is generally considered to be one of the most accurate and reliable measures of marital satisfaction available. eHarmony couples scored significantly higher in regard to all four components of relationship quality measured by the Dyadic Adjustment Scale: Consensus, Satisfaction, Affectional Expression and Cohesion.