This article focuses on the relationship between young adults’ cognitive abilities and individual partner preferences. We worked with the Preference NSZ 2017 data set, which contains data on partner preferences and the results of the National Comparative Secondary-School Exams of Czech high school graduates, and our analyses, using logistic regression, confirmed a tendency towards homophily on the level of cognitive abilities and university education. Young people with above-average results place more importance on agreement in political opinions, but do not regard the partner’s homemaking abilities or financial situation as too important. The results further show that partner preferences differ according to the education capital of the background family and according to preferred partnership arrangement. We also find significant differences in the partner preferences of men and women that reflect ideas about traditional gender roles. Women favour characteristics that relate to status, and men assign more importance to physical looks.
This article examines the issue of siblinghood in older age. The author starts by referring to sociological studies criticising the a-theoricity of empirical research in this field. She proceeds to analyse the most influential theoretical approaches used to study relationships between parents and their adult children (i.e. the theory of intergenerational solidarity and the theory/ concept of intergenerational ambivalence) and to critically assess their potential to serve as a guideline for empirical research on siblinghood and provide a framework for interpreting research findings on intragenerational/sibling relationships. The article devotes more space to the concept of ambivalence, which, the author argues, is a more appropriate approach for exploring relationships between older siblings. It also presents a basic overview of the state of empirical knowledge on adult siblinghood.