AUTHOR=Gonggrijp Bodine M. A. , Silventoinen Karri , Dolan Conor V. , Boomsma Dorret I. , Kaprio Jaakko , Willemsen Gonneke 

TITLE=The mechanism of assortative mating for educational attainment: a study of Finnish and Dutch twins and their spouses

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2023.1150697

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2023.1150697

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Introduction:</bold> Assortative mating refers describes a phenomenon in which individuals with similar phenotypic traits are more likely to mate and reproduce with each other; i.e. assortative mating occurs when individuals choose partners based on their similarity or dissimilarity in certain traits.to patterns of non-random mating of spouses leading to phenotypic resemblance. There are various theories about the its underlying mechanisms, which have different genetic consequences.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> We analyzed examined two possible mechanisms underlying assortative mating – phenotypic assortment and social homogamy – for educational attainment in two countries utilizing data of mono- and dizygotic twins and their spouses (1,451 Finnish and 1,616 Dutch twin-spouse pairs).</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> The spousal correlations were 0.51 in Finland and 0.45 in the Netherlands, to which phenotypic assortment contributed 0.35 and 0.30, and social homogamy 0.16 and 0.15, respectively.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Both social homogamy and phenotypic assortment are important processes in spouse selection in Finland and the Netherlands. In both countries, phenotypic assortment contributes to a greater degree to the similarity of spouses than social homogamy.</p>