Dating in 2020 can be challenging. Many people now turn to dating apps to help them find a partner, only to discover they are missing a crucial piece of the puzzle: personality compatibility. It’s one of the most important ingredients of attraction, yet it’s not even a small consideration in most dating apps. 

So how can personality typology help you find ‘the one’?

What romantic compatibility looks like  

Firstly, let’s consider what an ideal personality type pairing looks like. When it comes to dating, it helps to have some similarities in order to ‘get’ each other and some differences to create that spark. 

Without shared ground of some kind, it can be challenging to relate to and understand each other—both of which are essential to any fulfilling relationship. At the same time, having differences helps create the chemistry that’s crucial for attraction and catapults a platonic relationship into something more. 

If each person has complementary strengths and weaknesses, it makes for an unstoppable team.

Romance starts with loving yourself 

Recognizing personality types can help your love life in numerous ways. Meeting someone who sweeps you off your feet seems to be the focus for most people, but it’s equally important that when you do meet that special someone, they want to be with you too. 

Knowing and understanding your Myers-Briggs personality type is one of the most powerful tools for personal development and becoming the best version of yourself. It can help you understand your weaknesses, strengths, priorities, values, response to stress and much more. 

This degree of self-awareness is fundamental when it comes to healthy relationships. Maybe you have a strong aversion to conflict? Or you lash out during arguments? Being aware of your own behavior is the first step towards change and self-improvement.

Love comes from mutual understanding

As well as knowing yourself, personality typing can be used to better understand others. Using a framework like Myers and Briggs' can help to see where someone is coming from and why they act the way they do. 

It can be easy to assume that other people think similarly to ourselves, show love in the same way or have the same needs, but more often than not it just isn’t the case. You might show your love for someone by shouting it from the rooftops, but your partner needs physical touch in order to feel valued. 

Knowing even this alone can make for a much more harmonious relationship. Mutual understanding is everything when it comes to connection.

About those dating apps

Meeting someone who is also interested in personality types increases the chance of being on the same wavelength. There will already be a shared interest and if both of you know your personality type on your first date, it can create a more interesting starting point for conversation. 

Typically, people who are taking the time to learn about personality types will also be interested in personal development, which means you can continue a journey of personal growth with a companion. So Syncd, a new dating app and website based on the personality theory created by Briggs and Myers, offers an easy way to meet like-minded people—and it's available just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Personality types can help define what matters to you when looking for a partner. Most people have some idea of what kind of person they click with, but using parameters can provide clarity. Are you looking for someone who is practical and structured to balance out your own go-with-the-flow nature? Or maybe you want to meet a partner that you can share plenty of deep conversations with? By identifying which traits are important to you, you can then work out which personality types encompass these characteristics. 

You can start by exploring comprehensive descriptions of each of the 16 personalities. Knowing which traits or personality types you are looking for can make it easier to recognize compatible partners when you do meet them, or you can use So Syncd to search for people of specific personality types.

The final word

Attraction and compatibility are highly complex. Many other factors come into play as well as personality type, such as shared values, common interests, life experience and so on (even different immunity genes can play a role). But Myers and Briggs' personality type framework is a highly useful tool that can be used in various ways to help you find the one and, perhaps even more importantly, to have a happy, fulfilling relationship when you do.

Jessica Alderson
Jessica, an INFP, is the co-founder of So Syncd, a dating app and website that matches partners based on their Myers-Briggs personality types. She and her sister are on a mission to make dating more meaningful, fun, and successful. She loves the beach, stacks of pancakes and people who are good with directions.