Myths and truth about incompatibility of partners - a real problem, or a convenient reason to break up?

We are so different…

The ability to understand a partner (through communication, collaboration) and interact with him is influenced by many factors: education, age, circle of acquaintances and even cultural level. If one of the above is fundamentally different among people, disagreements and misunderstandings often arise between them, up to complete rejection. In this case, they talk about psychological incompatibility.

What is psychological compatibility? Is it possible to determine it in advance without leading to conflicts? What does the term “psychological compatibility” mean?

The concept of psychological compatibility

What is psychological compatibility? This is a feature, a property of interaction between two or more people, in which there is no contradiction between the leading character traits, the characteristics of each of the subjects of interaction. By psychological compatibility, psychologists understand the predisposition of group members to interact, which is based on a harmonious combination of characteristics of each group member.

Psychological incompatibility is the inability to understand each other in critical situations.

Meaning

What is the meaning of people matching? The psychological climate in the team depends on this. Likes, dislikes, attachments are the condition and result of a successful combination of features. The result of compatibility in a small group is harmony. It helps achieve better operating results at lower costs.

A successful combination of personal characteristics improves interaction, increases productivity, increases self-esteem and confidence of each individual team member, and gives a sense of security. Incompatibility slows down production; it is the cause of conflicts, aversions, and negative emotions.

Examples

Two individuals prone to dominance will not be able to establish interaction. The orientation of one of the participants towards submission, and the other towards dominance, ensures coherence in the relationship and the success of the common cause.

Two hot-tempered, assertive people will not be able to interact productively and calmly. A hot-tempered, impulsive person needs a calm partner.

The principle of compatibility of characteristics is taken into account in production, when setting up classes, groups during training, and in family life.

Levels of psychological compatibility

Psychological compatibility is a rather multifaceted and multi-level concept. Psychophysiological compatibility of temperaments is of great importance. Social and psychological compatibility depends on the social status of the partners, their professions, and level of education. However, education usually does not have a significant impact on the compatibility of people, but the level of general culture for mutual understanding is very important, as is the level of general personal development. People whose ideas about organizing their joint activities to solve common problems are sufficiently consistent are psychologically compatible. That is, the psychological compatibility of people largely depends on their functional-role expectations.

And the highest level of compatibility can be called such value-orientation unity, when partners not only agree with each other’s opinions, but share a jointly made decision and assign responsibility for it not only to the other, but also to themselves.

Psychological compatibility of group members

In the process of joint activities, members of a small group need to come into contact with each other to transfer information and coordinate their efforts. The productivity of the group, no matter what type of activity they engage in, entirely depends on the level of such coordination. In turn, this level is a value derived from one or another degree of psychological compatibility of group members. What is psychological compatibility?

In the shortest possible way, this concept can be defined as the ability of group members to collaborate, based on their optimal combination. Compatibility is determined both by the similarity of some properties of group members and by the differences in their other properties. As a result, this leads to the complementarity of people in joint activities, so that this group represents a certain integrity.

We have already noted that any real group is not simply the sum of its constituent individuals. Therefore, an assessment of the group’s activities must be given taking into account what was put forward by F.D. Gorbov and M.A. Novikov’s principle of integrativity, i.e. view of the group as a single inextricably linked organism.

Researchers studying the problems of psychological compatibility, both here and abroad, focus on groups that have to perform their tasks in conditions of relative isolation from the social environment (cosmonauts, polar explorers, participants in various expeditions).

However, the role of groups with psychologically compatible people is important in all areas of joint activity without exception. The presence of psychological compatibility among group members contributes to their better teamwork and, as a result, greater work efficiency. In accordance with the research data of N.N. Obozov, we note the following criteria for assessing compatibility and workability: 1) performance results; 2) emotional and energetic costs of its participants; 3) their satisfaction with this activity.

Two main types of psychological compatibility can be distinguished: psychophysiological and socio-psychological. In the first case, a certain similarity in the psychophysiological characteristics of people is implied and, on this basis, the consistency of their emotional and behavioral reactions, the synchronization of the pace of joint activity.

In the second case, we mean the effect of an optimal combination of types of behavior of people in a group, the commonality of their social attitudes, needs and interests, and value orientations.

It must be borne in mind that not every type of joint activity requires psychophysiological compatibility of group members. Let's take, for example, the employees of a university department, each of whom does his job alone: ​​gives lectures, conducts seminars, takes exams and tests, supervises the scientific work of graduate students and students, etc. In this case, in order for the activities of the department as a whole to be successful, only the socio-psychological aspect of compatibility matters.

If we turn to assembly line production, we will see that here effective work is impossible without the presence of psychophysiological compatibility of team members. When working continuously, each person must make their movements at a certain pace; clear coordination of people’s actions is necessary. If the members of the assembly line team are also compatible socially and psychologically, this will further contribute to its successful work.

In modern conditions (in the fields of work, sports) there are a number of activities that require both psychophysiological and socio-psychological compatibility. Take, for example, the group work of operators in automated control systems. For optimal recruitment of such groups, the so-called homeostatic technique proposed by F.D. can be used. Gorbov and his staff.

Their research showed that taking into account the requirements of psychological compatibility helps to increase the productivity and satisfaction of subjects in experimental groups.

As an example of the use of this technique, we refer to work carried out in the 1960s. in the laboratory of social psychology of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) State University N.V. Golubeva and M.I. Ivanyuk.

The “homeostat” installation is a device with which you can simulate the group interdependent activity of people in the process of solving a problem. This device includes three or four identical devices, each of which has a dial indicator and a control handle.

The subjects (three or four people, respectively) are located in front of these devices. Their common task is to set the needles of all instruments in the position specified by the experimenter. Moreover, the devices are interconnected in such a way that if any member of the experimental group manipulates the handle on his own, ignoring the actions of the others, the problem cannot be solved.

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How did the subjects behave? Observations have shown that the following four types of communicative behavior can be distinguished:

1) people striving for leadership, who can solve a problem only by subordinating other members of the group;

2) individualists trying to solve a problem alone;

3) adapting to the group, easily obeying the orders of its other members;

4) collectivists who try to solve a problem through joint efforts; They not only accept suggestions from other group members, but also take the initiative themselves.

The experiments also showed that not every group was able to successfully solve the problem. For example, when a person aspiring to leadership could not get others to follow his orders, he often completely refused to participate in the experiment, and if he remained, he now behaved very passively.

If the group consisted mainly of individualists, then each of them sought to act separately from the others, on his own. In short, only certain combinations of different types of behavior were successful.

What combination was optimal? In the described experiments, those groups whose members were sufficiently active and exchanged information among themselves, acting collectively, solved their problem the fastest.

Interestingly, in experiments on a simpler homeostatic device, where it was sufficient for only one of the three members of the group to understand the task, the following combination also demonstrated effective work: one member of the group is active, and the other two are completely subordinate to him. Although these experiments were carried out in a laboratory, the findings have direct relevance to the operating conditions of various groups.

According to Obozov, an important circumstance that determines connections and relationships between people in conditions of joint activity is the homogeneity/heterogeneity of the group (the degree of similarity/contrast of the likely participants in the interaction) according to various parameters.

The first level of homogeneity/heterogeneity of a group is the ratio of their individual (natural), personal and socio-psychological parameters (temperament, intelligence, character, motivation, interests, value orientations, worldview positions).

The second level of homogeneity/heterogeneity of a group is the ratio (similarity/difference) of their opinions, assessments, attitudes towards themselves, their partner, other people, and the objective world. This level is divided into two types (stages): primary (or initial) and secondary (or resultant).

The primary sublevel of homogeneity is the initial data (before the start of interaction between group members) of the correlation of opinions, assessments (about the world of objects and about one’s own kind) and attitudes (towards the world of objects and one’s own kind). The secondary sublevel of homogeneity is the ratio (similarity/difference) of opinions, assessments and attitudes as a result of interaction between group members.

The first level of group homogeneity/heterogeneity is involved in the regulation of joint activities and interpersonal relationships of people. However, its regulatory role may be little recognized by group members.

This does not mean, according to Obozov, that partners do not see real similarities or differences between themselves. The similarity or difference (physical, behavioral) is so obvious that people do not attach much importance to either one, taking its presence for granted.

The situation is different with the homogeneity/heterogeneity of the second level. The initial, initial correlation of opinions, assessments and relationships in a group characterizes the degree of unity of views of its members and expresses the similarity/difference of interests, value orientations and personal attitudes. At this stage, partners not only realize the similarities/differences in their opinions, assessments and relationships, but begin to understand its significance for joint activities.

The secondary sublevel of homogeneity, being a consequence of the interaction of opinions, assessments and attitudes of group members, is regulated by such psychological mechanisms as imitation, conformity, and suggestion.

The degree of positive variability in opinions, assessments and relationships is one of the main indicators of group cohesion. Thanks to variability, the secondary sublevel of homogeneity/heterogeneity of opinions, assessments and attitudes is transformed.

In conclusion, Obozov concludes that various systems of factors are involved in the regulation of group activity:

1) out-group (physical and social);

2) intragroup (norms, interpersonal relationships);

3) extrapersonal (homogeneity/heterogeneity according to individual psychological parameters);

4) intrapersonal (socio-psychological characteristics of group members - their opinions, assessments and attitudes).

So, research shows that psychological compatibility in groups is formed due to the action of various factors. The degree of such compatibility among members of the same group may vary at different stages of its life due to the dynamics of interpersonal relationships.

Staffing groups taking into account the requirements of psychological compatibility helps to increase their level of productivity and satisfaction with their activities.

Psychological compatibility in a team

We spend most of our time at work. Therefore, it is quite understandable that every person wants to feel at ease and confident among his colleagues. Often people, between a high salary among hated colleagues and a lower one in a friendly team, choose the latter option. Calmness and positive emotional contacts turn out to be more important for many than money and career. After all, tense relationships in the workplace can seriously poison our lives. And there are quite a lot of such people “poisoned” by misunderstanding at work. To avoid this, when recruiting each team, the manager must take into account not only the professional qualities of the applicant, but also provide for the results of joint activities with the rest of the team members. In other words, take into account the psychological compatibility of employees. But what does the term “psychological compatibility of team members” mean?

This is a manifestation of certain psychological properties of its individual members, on which the success of group activities largely depends. Simply put, the term “psychological compatibility of team members” is defined as the ability or impossibility of the people included in it to work productively together, while feeling comfortable and secure.

When compatibility matters most

Now that it has become clear what the term “psychological compatibility of the team” means, it can be argued that the possibility of fruitful cooperation between colleagues is determined by several decisive factors. Psychologists are sure that personal compatibility becomes more important for psychological comfort in a team, the longer people work together.

The importance of compatibility also depends on the size of the team. In groups with a large number of employees, psychological compatibility factors are less important.

But in small teams - from 3 to 7 people - the maximum similarity of the natural properties of colleagues, the compatibility of their characters, types of nervous system, levels of physical endurance, performance, and emotional stability are of great importance for creating a normal psychological microclimate.

In small groups, the psychological compatibility of team members is often even more important than their professional skills. The latter can be taught, but is it possible to overcome psychological incompatibility?

Incompatibility

As already noted, there is the concept of psychological incompatibility.
It can be discussed in the light of both friendships, family and work relationships. In the latter case, the psychological compatibility of group members is reduced to zero. Members of the team do not treat each other as comrades and friends, they do not respect each other, and sometimes they simply hate each other and try to put a spoke in each other’s wheels. In such conditions, people not only experience a lot of negative emotions, but ultimately this has an extremely negative impact on their productivity and the activities of the company as a whole.

Recommended: Person's temperament type

Psychologists identify several main types of psychological incompatibility:

• Psychophysiological – intolerance to the physical characteristics of another person. For example, one may be annoyed by another loudly stirring sugar with a spoon in a glass, while another may hate the smell of the other's cologne.
• Socio-psychological – occurs when roles are unfairly distributed in a team. For example, the head of a department is a person who does not correspond to the position held and does not have the appropriate level of knowledge.
• Ideological – when beliefs, values ​​and worldviews do not coincide. For example, one person is a racist, but those around him do not understand; one or more members of the team are avid communists, while others are representatives of the democratic party. In this case, ideology can influence relationships and even work productivity.

All of the above interferes with the interaction of team members. And by and large, the incompatibility of worldviews sometimes leads to civil wars and revolutions.

Types of psychological incompatibility

Psychological incompatibility of members of one team is manifested in the inability to understand each other in critical situations, asynchrony of mental reactions, differences in thinking, attention, and value systems. Such people do not enter into friendly relations, do not respect each other, and sometimes even experience hostility towards their colleagues. Psychological incompatibility not only poisons people’s lives, but also negatively affects the quality of work.

This incompatibility manifests itself in different ways:

• Psychophysiological incompatibility manifests itself as intolerance to the habits of another person, and sometimes even to his smell.
• Socio-psychological incompatibility manifests itself most often if the “roles” in the team are distributed incorrectly and unfairly.
• Social-ideological incompatibility is the incompatibility of worldviews and beliefs. It could lead to civil strife.

Criteria for psychological compatibility

Psychologists have been working on issues of psychological compatibility for several decades. But it was not possible to identify criteria for its assessment. At the moment, they are conditionally divided into 2 groups: for the team and for marriage. The first group includes:

• performance results;
• the amount of resources spent by participants (emotions, energy);
• satisfaction with the process.

Psychological compatibility in marriage is determined by the following criteria:

• How satisfied are the partners with the relationship?
• both voluntarily want to be together;
• spouses are ready to seek a compromise and meet each other halfway in resolving serious issues.

In short, compatibility in any type of relationship is the ability to be together, work, and not conflict, despite the criticality of the situation. Of course, it won’t work without quarrels and misunderstandings. But the team members are interested in interaction, so they solve them as soon as possible.

There is no such thing as 100% psychological compatibility. According to psychologists, this is nothing more than painstaking work on relationships. This is partly true. You cannot change your temperament and mental characteristics. But everything else can be adjusted if desired.

Is it possible to fight psychological incompatibility?

It often happens that partners in critical situations do not understand each other at all, do not “hear” their counterpart, and cannot make a common decision in the current situation. After such psychological friction, everything simply falls out of hand, performance decreases, and the quality of life drops sharply. In this case, the manager’s task is to try to bring the team closer together and create a friendly atmosphere of trust in it.

But how to do that? And is it possible, in principle, to create a comfortable working atmosphere in a team that unites people of completely different psychological types, often incompatible with each other?

Three ways to resolve disagreements in a team

If the psychological compatibility of team members leaves much to be desired, you can use one of the following methods:

1. Try to avoid conflict. To do this, avoid situations that provoke disagreements and disputes.
2. Promptly remind the most conflict-ridden colleagues of professional solidarity and that we are all one team. In this way, it is possible to smooth out the emerging conflict and prevent team members from beginning to show aggression.
3. An effective way is to find a compromise by accepting the opponent’s point of view not completely, but to such an extent that it will allow the conflict to be suspended.

But all these are only external methods that do not eliminate the root of the problem - the psychological incompatibility of workers. Therefore, the best solution is to conduct a psychological test with each new team member to determine compatibility with existing employees. And it’s even better in advance, even at the stage of forming a team, to take into account the social and psychological criteria for the compatibility of its members.

When and what criteria to take into account

The coincidence of basic values ​​between people is the key to psychological compatibility, so you should start by assessing your own corporate priorities.
Basic values ​​can be different: freedom, harmony, safety, caring for others, curiosity, power. It's best to evaluate candidates through the lens of three key factors. You can recognize psychological incompatibility in recruiting both at the resume stage and during the interview:

• A resume allows you to determine basic criteria: education, work experience. It is aimed at assessing basic professional skills that can be presented in the form of a report and trying to understand whether the employer is ready to seek a common language with the candidate. This is the so-called minimum level of acceptability.
• The interview provides an opportunity to assess soft skills—interpersonal skills.
  Although a full picture is formed only as a result of practical interaction, HR managers often use psychological tests. For example, Timothy Leary's interpersonal compatibility questionnaire, William Schutz's FIRO-B based on his three-factor hypothesis of psychological compatibility, Hans Eysenck's temperament compatibility hypothesis, Lyudmila Sobchik's diagnostic of interpersonal relationships. Some tests - for example, DISC - determine the tendency to occupy a particular position in a team based on behavioral style. This is a common way to analyze soft skills: LinkedIn estimates that three-quarters of interviewers ask behavioral questions to assess soft skills.

The opinion that a stressful situation helps to see the true essence of a candidate is wrong. Pressure can alienate a potentially valuable employee.

More than 90% of job seekers note that the interview influences the overall perception of the company. This tactic is also useless because candidates can recognize the interviewer's style in advance and give the expected reaction. In my experience, I see that a person opens up much more if he feels calm and relaxed.

57% of companies have difficulty assessing the personal qualities of applicants. One of the reasons is the individual characteristics of a specialist who relies on his own judgment. To avoid this, you can use two interviewers with different temperaments. They will be able to discuss the details and form a more relevant picture.

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Take into account the psychological types of people

Successful solution to the problem of forming a psychologically compatible team largely depends on whether the leader forming the team knows the psychological types of people. There are two known psychological types: introverts and extroverts.

Introverts are more reserved, indecisive, more often inclined to contemplation rather than active activity, they are socially passive. An introvert is a cautious, hidden, pedantic person; he usually prefers monotonous work. Extroverts, on the contrary, are people of an open nature, responsive, helpful, and easily adapt to new conditions. An extrovert is sociable, charming, and straightforward in his judgments. Unlike an introvert, he is quite proactive. Such people are focused on external evaluation of their activities. Extroverts are good at jobs that require quick decision making.

Pure introverts and extroverts are rare. Each person contains traits of both psychological types. But they need to be able to be identified and taken into account when forming a team.

Psychological compatibility of spouses

Compatibility in the family is also the most important condition for the stability of a couple. Understanding marital compatibility is close to husband and wife's satisfaction with marriage. The compatibility of loving people who have created a family is manifested in the consistency of attitudes, the similarity of spiritual ways, and the conformity of characters. An important component of marital compatibility is the consistency of both ideas about the functions of the family.

Speaking about the psychological compatibility of spouses, one cannot fail to take into account everyday compatibility, the nationalities of the spouses, and their religion. The attitude of spouses towards relatives, the unity of the principles of raising children, and the distribution of household responsibilities are also important for compatibility. And even a different sense of humor can cause incompatibility between loving people.

Signs of compatibility in marriage

How can you understand that you are two halves who have come together like puzzles in life, and not strangers who will one day discover that they have nothing in common?

What are the signs of compatibility?

• You are spiritually compatible. Your goals, needs, views and opinions, interests and attitudes are united and consistent.
• You are compatible in terms of character properties and emotional sphere , and are able to exist in a single everyday space without conflicts.
• You are united in matters of raising children and organizing family functions.
• You get mutual pleasure from intimacy and simply from the presence of your partner next to you, and your temperaments (appetites) are the same.
• You have no disagreements on issues of nationality and religion.
• You have a normal and smooth relationship with your partner’s relatives (mutual).

To summarize, we can say that complete compatibility of partners is their compatibility in all areas of life and aspects.

If the match is less than 70-80%, they indicate poor compatibility and a high risk of divorce.

How does temperament affect compatibility?

Combinations of types of temperaments and characters are important for the compatibility of people in groups, be it a work team or a family. If a person’s character is formed on the basis of experience and can change throughout life, then temperament is given from birth and cannot be changed. But it is imperative to take this into account to determine psychological compatibility.

Of course, you practically won’t find choleric, sanguine, melancholic or phlegmatic people in their pure form, but one type of temperament still prevails in every person. How are they different and what exactly needs to be taken into account?

People with the same temperaments react to what is happening around them in approximately the same way, and both their sensations and behavioral reactions are similar. Therefore, it is easy for such people to understand a friend, to predict the course of thoughts and actions.

But here’s a paradox: the closer the relationship between people, the more compatible are the opposite temperaments, which perfectly complement each other.

Kinds

A person cannot live and develop outside of society. Throughout his life, he has to enter into different relationships: friendships, work, love. In every type of relationship, mutual understanding is important, and it depends on compatibility, that is, proximity, similarity of people. But this does not mean that people should be an exact copy of each other, it means that they should complement each other. The success of the common cause, the psychological climate, and the atmosphere in the team or group depend on this.

Types of psychological compatibility:

1. Socio-psychological compatibility is the unity of goals, interests, priorities, values, social attitudes, roles. Things go well when all participants have the same attitude towards other participants and the common cause. Compatibility depends on the psychological make-up and personality type of each individual subject.
2. Psychophysiological compatibility. This is a combination of levels of physical development, levels of intellectual, motor skills (psychomotor development). Development of sense organs (vision, hearing, smell, touch, etc.), compatibility of temperaments. This type of compatibility is clearly visible in sports; just analyze any sports team. But this is not the only area where psychophysiological compatibility is important; for example, it is needed in intimate relationships.
3. Psychological compatibility. In psychology, this means the similarity of motives, characters, and behavior.

Separately, it is worth considering the psychological compatibility of temperaments (an element of psychophysiological compatibility). The most specific type. According to the theory, the more similar temperaments are, the greater the chances of both compatibility and incompatibility increase. But if the temperaments are directly opposite, for example, melancholic and choleric, then you cannot count on compatibility.

Psychological compatibility in marriage

Psychological compatibility of spouses is the desire of partners to be together throughout their lives and in any conditions. Compatibility implies mutual understanding, mutual respect, spiritual unity, and spiritual comfort of each partner. Compatibility is the willingness to accept in a partner what we do not have, and enjoying what we both have, this is a fusion of the general and the individual.

The problem of psychological compatibility in family life is very acute. How strong and happy the marriage will be depends on the psychological compatibility of husband and wife. You need to understand this issue long before legalizing the relationship.

Psychological compatibility in marriage has several components:

• compatibility of emotions;
• unity of morality;
• spiritual unity;
• sexual compatibility.

The greater the compatibility, the better the relationship between the spouses. But it is important to understand that complete compatibility is extremely rare.

Factors on which compatibility depends:

• the level of culture of each spouse;
• degree of affection for each other;
• features of the emotional side of relationships;
• sexuality and sexual preferences.

The best compatibility is observed in those couples where people are similar in character and lifestyle.

You can fight incompatibility by working on yourself. If a person wants to change his character and behavior, then he can do it. You can get rid of unwanted traits and develop others in their place. “I have such a character” is not an excuse, it is an excuse.

Incompatibility stems from the unwillingness to understand the spouse and the inability or unwillingness to objectively evaluate one's own behavior. Success depends on a critical attitude towards yourself, trust and patience with your partner.

Psychological compatibility in a team improves teamwork and production efficiency.

Psychological compatibility in a team, group

When selecting workers and staffing classrooms, not only the qualities of each person are assessed, but also the similarities and dissimilarities of the characteristics of all group members. This is necessary to achieve the result of the overall activity.

Psychological compatibility in a group or team is the ability of participants to cooperate without conflict within the framework of one activity to achieve a common result. Psychological compatibility in a team ensures teamwork and increases production efficiency. Compatibility in a group depends on the communicative type of its participants.

There are four types of communicators:

• leaders (solve problems by subordinating other people);
• individualists (solve problems by working alone);
• conformists (obey leaders, adapt to collectivists);
• collectivists (accept suggestions, put forward ideas, are used to solving problems through group efforts).

In addition, it is important to take into account the temperament, abilities, and character of each individual person.

Features analyzed:

• physiological (gender, age, body constitution, etc.);
• psychophysiological (temperament, biological needs);
• psychological (character, motives);
• socio-psychological (values, interests, expectations).

It is recommended to create “diverse” teams, for example, recruit men and women, people of different ages. This is necessary so that the participants complement and balance each other. For example, restrained and strict men will reduce the frequency of conflicts in an emotional, dynamic female team.

The mechanisms of socio-psychological compatibility in a group depend on the goals and characteristics of the work (psychological compatibility and workability):

1. For long-term cooperation under stress, you need to pay attention to the similarities of team members.
2. To work creatively, you need to pay attention to complementary qualities.
3. If the issue of achieving a common goal is urgent, then you need to pay attention to the contrasting characteristics of the participants.

Psychological compatibility of employees increases the productivity of the team and each individual. It creates a favorable climate within the team and stabilizes the mental state of each employee.

Features of people with different temperaments

Cholerics have a strong nervous system; they change activities without problems. But the nervous system of people of this type is somewhat unbalanced, which is often the reason for their lack of harmony with other people. Cholerics may experience sudden changes in mood for no apparent reason. They are quick-tempered, impatient, and prone to emotional breakdowns.

Sanguine people also have a strong nervous system, they have excellent performance, easily move on to other activities, and communicate with all people without problems. Sanguine people are almost always in a good mood, they are looking for new experiences, quickly respond to what is happening around them, and experience failures relatively easily.

Phlegmatic people also have a strong nervous system, they are quite efficient, but they find it difficult to engage in new activities. It is difficult for phlegmatic people to adapt to a new environment. A phlegmatic person is usually in an even mood; he is always calm and self-confident. People of this temperament are also characterized by constancy in relationships.

Melancholic people are people with a weak nervous system, they have a low level of mental activity, and they get tired quickly. Melancholic people are characterized by great emotional sensitivity and a sensitive attitude towards others. Thanks to these qualities, melancholic people are easy to get along with. But they themselves, experiencing problems within themselves, are most often in a bad mood, they are suspicious and tearful.

The key to compatibility is the optimal combination of value orientations, genotype and... altruism

To summarize, it should be noted that psychological compatibility is defined as mutual acceptance by people of each other, which is based on the similarity or complementarity of their value orientations and personal characteristics.

Ideally compatible would be people of approximately the same age, temperament, biological rhythms, health status, sexual activity, the same level of education, and who also have the same goals, and their methods of achieving them also do not differ. And ideally compatible people are ready to take responsibility for each other and joint decisions. But in life such coincidences are practically impossible.

But nevertheless, we have psychological compatibility with people who are different from us in many ways. And what will help us achieve compatibility in our own lives with loved ones and colleagues is, perhaps, not a well-timed psychological compatibility test, but the desire to make others feel good with us. Maybe this is precisely the key to psychological compatibility?