Who Matches Up?

Explorer and Explorer

As for Explorers marrying Explorers, there were so few—only five couples—it wasn't possible to do any real analysis. But I suspect I know a few of their pleasures and their problems, in part because I'm an Explorer who's gone out with another Explorer for some nine years. This pair has a huge amount of fun together. Both are independent, resourceful, impulsive, creative, high energy, adventurous, and interested in sex. So for a while, two Explorers are likely to feel as if they have slipped into Nirvana; each has found someone who will play as hard and fast as they do. But Explorers are so independent that they have difficulty working as a team or discussing the problems in the relationship. Interestingly, in our sample, Builder-Builder couples had many more children than did Explorer pairs. Natural selection is at work before our eyes: The steady, dependable, family- and community-oriented Builders are sending more of their DNA toward eternity.