Can Complementary Couples Cohabitate?
I catch up with psychiatrist Timothy J. Pylko at Peet’s on Lake in Pasadena. He confesses he’s also a bit surprised by some of eHarmony’s research. “I can only talk anecdotally,” he said, “but I see complementary personalities” working well. He means complementary, but different; “Oftentimes, someone who is very gregarious and outgoing is balanced by someone who is a little bit more introverted.” Pylko counsels individuals and couples at San Marino Psychiatric Associates and is an assistant clinical professor at UCLA and USC medical schools. He says he’s impressed with the research team at eHarmony Labs, but adds: “There’s a certain complexity and magic that happens in relationships that are very hard to limit to a psychological test. I don’t know that you could truly measure what makes a relationship work. I think what makes relationships interesting are the differences, in complementary ways.” Pylko does, however, believe that similar values and intellectual abilities — and my husban
