Compatibility/Love and friendship
Partners
A partnership asks two people to share a home, a calendar and their hardest weeks. Here is how two types tend to fit as partners, area by area, and what helps where they differ.
Pick a type, or use a test result for exact scores.
Pick a type, or use a test result for exact scores.
Pick two people to see how they fit
Choose a type for each, or use test results for exact scores. Not sure of someone's type? Browse the sixteen.
What we look at as partners
Four areas, each read from one scale, then how you handle pressure. How the gauge works
Decisions T/F
Conflict and care
How you argue, make up and show love.
Each point between your scores costs 1.5 points
Structure J/P
Shared plans
How you run a home, a calendar and money together.
Each point between your scores costs 1.25 points
Energy E/I
Social life
How much of your time you spend with other people, and how much alone.
Each point between your scores costs 1 point
Perception N/S
Talk and dreams
What you talk about, and how you picture your future together.
Each point between your scores costs 0.75 points
Composure
Hard weeks
How the two of you weather stress, from both Composure scores.
Shown separately, not part of the fit
What the research says
Personality matters in relationships, but not mainly through matching. In large samples from three countries, each partner's own traits predicted how satisfied couples were far better than how alike the two were (Dyrenforth et al., 2010). A meta-analysis found people tend to be happier with partners who are emotionally steady, agreeable and conscientious (Malouff et al., 2010). Read the gauge as a map of your differences, not a verdict on your relationship.
- Dyrenforth, P. S., Kashy, D. A., Donnellan, M. B., and Lucas, R. E. (2010). Predicting relationship and life satisfaction from personality in nationally representative samples from three countries: The relative importance of actor, partner, and similarity effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99(4), 690-702.
- Malouff, J. M., Thorsteinsson, E. B., Schutte, N. S., Bhullar, N., and Rooke, S. E. (2010). The five-factor model of personality and relationship satisfaction of intimate partners: A meta-analysis. Journal of Research in Personality, 44(1), 124-127.
Other settings
Every setting reads the same five scores through the areas that matter there.
Love and friendship
Friends
What you do together, what you talk about and how you show up.
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Family
Parent and child
What a child needs, what a parent naturally gives, and where they meet.
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Family
Siblings
Growing up side by side, and staying close as adults.
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Work
Colleagues
Sharing projects, meetings and deadlines as peers.
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Work
Manager and team member
Direction, check-ins, feedback and room to work.
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