Using our research-backed theoretical model of what matters in long-term relationships, we can understand who you are based on your answers to our questions. Some of you might be curious about what this model looks like—so we’ll give you a little glimpse in today’s newsletter.
There are four overarching categories (termed “Meta-Levels”) that comprise our model. They are “Personality”, “Basic Values”, “Romantic Tendencies”, and “Pragmatics”. Now let’s take a quick look at each one:
Personality
As detailed in one of my previous newsletter pieces, we use HEXACO to inform our personality model. While we’ve played around with the original blueprint, it still has the main components you know and love—such as emotionality and openness to experience. An interesting thing to note is that personality as a whole is context-dependent, and can change based on your situation and the people you’re interacting with.
Basic Values
Conversely, your basic values aren’t context-dependent. We use a slightly tweaked derivative of Shalom Schwartz’s Refined Theory of Basic Human Values to inform this meta-level. The cool part about them is that they are fairly consistent in a universal sense, and persist across different environments. They include such concepts as spirituality, traditionalism, and independence.
Romantic Tendencies
This meta-level measures what your behaviors and expectations are for romantic relationships in particular. We draw from renowned psychology concepts such as adult attachment theory, social-cognitive theory, and object-relations theory to measure how you most prefer to communicate with your partner. This is also where our sexuality questions reside ;)
Pragmatics
Lastly, each person brings their own set of building blocks to a relationship. These need to fit together on a foundational level, so you can both best support each other's growth. This is the most practical meta-level we have, and it encompasses your present daily habits (e.g., health attitudes, financial habits) as well as your future goals (e.g., how many children you want, where you want to settle down).
I hope this has answered some burning questions about how we match you. It can get pretty complex, because everyone is so unique and has idiosyncratic needs and wants, but that’s what we’re here to help you with—to match you up with your perfect backup plan.