Do you feel that people are more attracted to one another by their differences or by their commonalities? And why do you feel that way?
There are so many dynamics in this one! Bravo Fandango! For your provocative question and for drowning me in my own thought analysis. lol
The question specifically asks “attracted to” and I would say our differences offer the first allure because of curiosity and novelty.
I’ve noticed that many relationships are set up according to perceived strengths too. Each partner assumes ‘duties’ according to what he/she seems to be ‘good’ at. There are the finance managers, cooks, home maintenance, and scheduling managers, but also, there are the worriers, optimists, writers, decorators, and romantics. (To name only a few.) Interestingly, they don’t always fall along traditional gender lines either.
Yet, differences aren’t the ‘glue’ to relationship longevity. Similarities are. Specifically, those that encompass values, tradition, and goals. They don’t need to be identical, and rarely are, because every individual is a perfectly unique being BUT they have to be within the same ‘genre’. If one partner wants children and the other doesn’t or one partner envisions world travel as a goal and the other wants to homestead off of the grid, SORRY. Unless lightening strikes, somebody is going to be miserable!
Miserable is a condition more likely to land the relationship’s story on Investigation Discovery than the Hallmark Channel. 😀
I could go on but the last sentence seemed a perfect place to leave you. LOL
Fandango’s Provocative Question #128 – This, That, and The Other (fivedotoh.com)
Sillyfrog's Blog 
You seemed to lean both ways on your view here Susan, which is good because people are complicated and they can’t always fit inside of a box.
I am super pleased to get that kind of a compliment! It tells me I’ve straddled the fairness line well. As we’re all opinionated human beings (we writers are the worse because we express ourselves incessantly. LOL), that’s a difficult task. Many thanks!
I like the way you put this and I agree that differences can be intriguing and even exciting, but similarities are, indeed, the glue to relationship longevity.
Thanks. A great question.
Thank you.