AU Blogspot

The insights of cultural/media theorist Douglas Rushkoff are always contemporary and often prescient.  He was deciphering the social codes of the virtual psyche, lifestyle, and marketplace before such concepts were formally identified by the so-called “machine.”  The Merchants Of Cool is a brilliant analysis of the incorporation of youth pop-culture that Ruskhoff created while working as a correspondent for PBS Frontline.  This is a very entertaining documentary.  You’ll learn a lot too.  Let me know what you think in the comments section.

Ryan Rode
Interactive Services Manager
Ashworth University

          Thanks to Sylvia Ortiz Domney for permission to use this Photo. 

How do we choose a life partner?  Magazine articles on choosing the right mate abound.  “What should you look for in that special someone?”  “What is the ideal man/woman?”  Take a minute to think about that.  What do you want in a life partner?  What words come to mind to describe your Princess or Prince Charming?  Whatever you’re looking for, or have already found, the words you have chosen to describe your “ideal mate” are almost certainly personality traits: kind, considerate, funny, ambitious, loving.   

Somewhere on your list are probably good-looking and healthy, but even things like health are affected by the personality.  The things you want in a life partner are pretty much the same things that everyone else is looking for.   

So, do we get what we’re looking for?  Generally, we do.  But, a better question might be, are we happy with what we get?  Well, that depends upon what you were looking for in the first place.  You are most likely to be happy if you look for, and end up with, someone who is agreeable, emotionally stable, and open. 

The next question that might come to mind is how can we know if the relationship with that special someone will last?  Well, for starters you can assume that marrying someone who is the opposite of agreeable, emotionally stable, and open, is probably a bad idea.  Low impulse control and lack of dependability also predict relationship breakup.  And, finally, relationships seem to work best when the partners are similar in background, religion, goals, education, and personality.  Fortunately, we tend to meet people like ourselves, because we gravitate toward certain types of situations that are compatible with our own personalities.  Selection of situations, then, enhances our chances for meeting like-minded people.  If, for example, you are bookish and quiet, you are likely to spend time in a library or museum, where you will meet other bookish and quiet people. 

So, have you found what you’re looking for?  Are you more alike or different?  Please share your thoughts with our Ashworth University psychology community!

Dr. Carol Simons
Psychology Program Instructor
Ashworth University