Melody_3.1_NI

"Many people would like to end up with a partner who is at least as socially capable and outgoing as they are... [Y]ou might get together with other people in order to have your personality shored up and confirmed in both a general human way and in ways specific to your own experience and way of viewing in the world." 

I feel like the gist of what Steve Duck is saying here is that people are generally attracted to those who are similar to them, and in this case, he seems to be referring specifically to similarities in personalities. I definitely agree that similarities are generally what draw people together. When two people are similar, they reaffirm each other in their character, values, etc, and people like to affirmed in who they are. However, I have also seen many cases where two people of widely contrasting personalities wind up together; I see that even in my own family. My Dad is an incredibly outgoing person; he knows a lot of people and is very sociable. My Mom, on the other hand, is slightly shy. She's quiet and isn't as comfortable talking to people she's never met before as my Dad is. I think even though similarities tend to attract people, especially when it comes to values, people may be attracted to others who are different from them to create a balance in personalities; so, someone who is quiet may be attracted to someone who is loud and outgoing so that when the two people come together, there is a balance between intro- and extroversion.