Choosing a partner under the ideology of romanticism, an ideology originating in the 1790s, we are supposed to choose a partner based on our feelings, rather than an arrangement that would benefit both partners’ families’ wealth in the future. We are encouraged to choose a partner that we find attractive in every way, someone that makes us ecstatic to be around, and, above all, happy.
But why is choosing a partner so difficult, and why do we choose the wrong partner so much of the time? Click through this gallery to explore how we choose partners in the long run, and how solely trusting our feelings may lead us astray.