Compatibility Isn't No. 1 Ingredient To Satisfying Relationship, Study Says

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – While Green Day's single "Nice Guys Finish Last" off "Nimrod" celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2019, new research says nice guys actually may finish first. According to a study by Michigan State University in the Journal of Research in Personality, the main ingredient of a satisfying relationship is a nice partner.

The researchers studied 2,500 heterosexual couples who have been married for about 20 years and discovered that shared interests weren't the No. 1 element to a satisfying relationship despite what many people – and dating apps – believe.

Instead, simply having a "conscientious and nice" partner lead to happier relationships.

"People invest a lot in finding someone who's compatible, but our research says that may not be the end all be all," Michigan State University associate professor of psychology Bill Chopik said in a statement. "Instead, people may want to ask, 'Are they a nice person?' 'Do they have a lot of anxiety?' Those things matter way more than the fact that two people are introverts and end up together."

The research found that finding a partner who shares similar personalities is not the most important aspect of dating, which the researchers say online dating apps may want to reconsider how they conduct business.

"When you start to get into creating algorithms and psychologically matching people, we actually don't know as much about that as we think we do," Chopik said. "We don't know why the heart chooses what it does, but with this research, we can rule out compatibility as the lone factor."

You can check out the full study here.