Couples who date soon after meeting 'more likely to be as attractive as each other'

Findings on 'assortative mating' offer pointers on how to end up with someone completely out of your league

We've scoured the studies and collected some of the most interesting reasons why two people click (Getty)

It's fair to say not all couples are evenly matched in the looks department.

Well, according to new research, that may be because they knew each other for a long time before they started dating.

Researchers found that couples who began dating within a month of meeting were more closely matched in physical attractiveness than those who became couples later on.

Comfortingly, those couples whose attractiveness was mismatched were just as happy as the others.

The study examined 'assortative mating', or where people select a sexual partner based on similarities with themselves, and how time affects relative attractiveness.

Lucy Hunt from University of Texas at Austin, the study's lead author, was quoted on the Psyblog as saying: "Having the time to interact with others in diverse settings affords more opportunities to form unique impressions that go beyond one's initial snap judgments."

The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, looked at 167 couples, assessing how long they had known each other before dating, and rating their attractiveness.

And perhaps offers some pointers as to how you end up with someone completely out of your league.