“stimulus value role” theory suggests that mate selection consists of three stages. At each stage
people seek different types of information. This study extends previous research on couple similarity by focusing
on the “stimulus” stage where people attend to stimulus information—the most salient personal information.
This stage has received less attention than the “value” and “role” stages. A sample of 641married couples from Central
Alberta, Canada provided information on a wide range of stimulus characteristics including background, physical
and perceptual variables, as well as spirituality and growth orientation for comparison. Correlation results
showed evidence for strong and consistent couple similarity on stimulus characteristics, suggesting that those
characteristics are important domains to partner selection. Structural equation modeling results indicated that
couple similarity (measured by absolute and directional difference score) overall was not a strong predictor of
marital satisfaction; however, discrepancies in age, spirituality, and growth orientation were significant predictors
of dissatisfaction.