Here is a young couple who are in love, or more precisely, at this stage of the relationship, they are in lust. For many of course this will go on to be love but will it last?

How does this couple navigate a life time and end up like those below, an old couple sharing a lifetimes memories.

What is it about this old couple that has enabled them to weather the storms that have confronted them? What characteristics of their make up has caused these storms to strengthen their relationship rather than weaken it.

Do opposites indeed attract or are those of like personalities more likely to survive as a couple?

These are the sorts of questions that have captivated Dr Eva Klohnen of the University of Iowa and she thinks she has the answer. Personality-related domains such as attachment, extraversion, conscientiousness and positive or negative emotions mean nothing, you may be the same or different to your partner, it does not matter. The only thing that is essential is that you share the same attitudes, values, and beliefs.

Survival is one thing, conflict in a relationship is another and there are definate personality mixes that are recipes for conflict and angst in a relationship. That is not to say these couples are unhappy, some relationships sail smoothly across waters with barely a ripple whilst others thrive on continually oscillating from high crests to deep troughs.

Even those navigating the stormiest seas can do so together on a raft of common values and beliefs.

Read more here.