A recent study by eHarmony has found that 64 percent of men are in a relationship with someone who shares significant personality traits with their mother dearest. Fortunately, it’s totally normal from an evolutionary, psychological standpoint.
“It’s well known that we tend to migrate towards people who share similar traits with us and, to varying degrees, we seek to recreate aspects of our original relationships with our parents,” Rachael Lloyd, relationship expert at eHarmony says.
“With mums as our primary caregivers in life, it’s no surprise men are attracted to women who possess similar values.”
The traits that your GF is likely to share with your mum include tolerance (how much you value exclusivity (your stance on monogamy), agreeableness (how empathetic you other to peoples’ problems), affectionate (do you like a cuddle or not), altruism (being selfless), and accomodation (how willing you are to allow for others’ thoughts and feelings).
But it doesn't stop at personality, previous research has also found that men are attracted to the physical traits their mum and partner share. But again, it's not that creepy.
Evolution and natural selection have pre-programmed you to seek out partners who come from your same species group. And since your earliest and closest contact is with your mother, she becomes the visual template you seek out, Urszula Marcinkowska, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Turku, explains.
