INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS AND GROUP PROCESSES

MATE SELECTION

cotwin does. Nevertheless, if mate selection is a lawful process,
then we should expect MZ twins to approve of each other’s new
spouses at least as strongly as they approve, for example, of each
other’s choice of wardrobe or of vacation activities.

Method

A one-page Choices questionnaire was sent to both members of400
pairs of twin participants in the Minnesota Twin Registry. All re-
cruited pairs had been married, ranged in age from 35 to 55 years, and
had previously provided demographic (including zygosity) data and
returned one or more personality and interest inventories. The Choices
questionnaire was sent to 100 pairs each of male and female MZ and
same-sex DZ twins. The questionnaire included five items. The first
two asked each twin to compare his or her own with the cotwin’s
choices of clothing and of household furnishings and decoration. The
alternatives for the clothing item were “Our choice in clothes is” (a)
almost identical, (b) quite similar, (c) as similar as two friends, (d) not
very similar, (e) very dlffnte∏t, contrasting, or(f) I cant answer this ques-
tion. Alternatives for the household item were similar. Items 3 and 4
asked the twin to indicate how he or she would feel about taking the
kind of vacations that the cotwin took or about having the kind of job
the cotwin had. The alternatives provided were (a) would hate it, (b)
ho-hum, (c) okay, (d) would like it, (e) would love it, and (f) can’t answer.

The final, mate-selection item was identified as the “most impor-
tant choice that most of us ever make,” and the strict confidentiality of
our individual records was once again emphasized. The respondent
twin was asked to think back to when the cotwin first decided to marry
and to describe his or her feeling at that time about the twin’s choice of
mate. The alternatives were (a) I felt that Γd rather stay single than
marry my twin’s fiancIe, (b) I would not havechosen my twin's fiancee; (c)
I had no strong feeling one way or the other, (d) I really liked my twin’s
fiancee, (e) I could have fallen for my twin’s fiarκee, and (f) I just can t
answer this question.

Results

Without inducements or prompting, completed question-
naires were returned by 120 MZ men, 109 DZ men, 168 MZ
women, and 150 DZ women. The can’t say alternative was se-
lected by less than 5% of each group on all but the vacation
questions. Some 27% of these adult DZ twins and 18% of the
MZ twins knew too little about their cotwin’s vacation activities
to answer that question. The data shown in Table 4 were pro-
duced by summing the two positive alternatives (similar or Iike-
love) and the two negative ones (dissimilar or dislike-hate) and
expressing each as a percentage of the total number of re-
sponses minus the cant say.

The data show that, for both sexes, twins consider their co-
twin’s choices of wardrobe and of household furnishings to be
similar to their own, and this is more true for MZ than for DZ
twins. They also feel positively disposed toward their cotwin’s
choice of vacations and of jobs and, once again, this similarity
in choice behavior is greater for MZ than for DZ twins. On the
crucial question of mate selection, however, a very different
picture emerges. About as many twins of both sexes and both
twin types disliked as liked their cotwins’ choice of fiancee or
fiance (i.e., the number who reported more negative feelings
than the neutral alternative, I had no strong feeling one way or
the other, about equaled the number reporting more positive
feelings). The MZ twins did not approve of their cotwin’s choice

Table 4

Percentages of Adult Twins ’ Attitudes Toward Their Cotwin's

Choices of Clothes, Household Furnishings, Vacation Activities,

Job, and Mate (at Time CGtwin Got Married)

Note. I = Percentages rating “similar” vs. “‘dissimilar” or “liked” vs.
“disliked” differ at p c .05 by chi-square test. > or < = monozygotic
(MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) percentages differ at p < .05.

* Scale was almost idemical-quitr similar-average-not similar-very dif-
farsnl-ran't answer.'^f⅞imilar"' - percentage of respondents choosing
the first two alternatives; “‘dissimilar” = percentage choosing not simi-
lar or very diffarent. ^b Scale was would love it-like it-okαy-ho∙hum-
hate it. “Liked” = percentage choosing love if or like it; “Disliked” =
percentage choosing ho-hum or hate it. ‘Scale was could have fallen
for my twin’s spouse-really liked my tsio's spouse-no strong feeling-
would not have chosen by twin's spouse-would rather have stayed Single-
cns't answer. “Liked” = percentage of respondents choosing could have
fallen for my twin’s SfiOllSe or really liked my lspo's spouse; “Disliked” =
percentage choosing would not have chosen my ts/in’s spouse or would
rather have stayed single.

significantly more than did the DZ twins. The only perceptible
trend in the mate-selection data is a tendency for male MZ
twins to be more positive than negative and more positive than
the male DZ twins. Although not statistically reliable, this ten-
dency is echoed in the data to be reported next, from a similar
Choices questionnaire completed by the spouses of these same
twins.

Study 4: Evaluations by the Spouses of These Twins

Twins, and especially MZ twins, might be disposed to exag-
gerate the degree of their similarity. One way to check on this
possibility would be to solicit independent ratings by a third
person, acquainted with both twins, evaluating the similarity of
their choice behavior. The twins’ spouses can provide such inde-
pendent judgments. Moreover, the spouse of each twin presum-
ably played an equal role in the mate-selection process and can
describe for us her or his reactions to their spouse’s cotwin at the

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