As you make your way in the dating scene, you will come across many kinds of people and you will start to see trends in people’s behaviors which will give you an indication of what it would be like to date them over time. Since time is your scarcest commodity, you just don’t have the time to get to know everyone you meet in depth and you need to come up with quick ways to get to know your potential partners better. It’s an inexact science but I’ve come to the conclusion that there are certain quick ways to get a fairly (but not exactly) accurate idea of what kind of partner your date will be. There is one question if properly answered and understood that can unlock your date’s character and personality virtually instantly.

What is this question?

Find out what your date’s relationship with the opposite sex parent is or was like.

That by itself will tell you more than anything else they will tell you or show you in the first few months of the relationship. It is very difficult for people to change their ingrained personality and behaviors especially if it was developed since early childhood. The way that your date interacts with their opposite sex parent is the way that they first learned to interact with the opposite sex. Unless someone has gone through extensive behavioral modification, it is highly unlikely that they will have changed their earliest patterns of behavior.

How does this work in the real world?

Let’s suppose you’re a male and you are dating a girl:

If she hates her father, she most likely has a negative attitude towards men in general, regardless of what she tells you.
If her father was violent or abusive, she may seek to create conflict and abusive situations in your relationships because that is what she is accustomed to
If her father constantly cheated on her mother, she may constantly be paranoid and suspect you of infidelity as well
If her father spoiled and pampered her, she will expect to be similarly spoiled by her

Similarly-

If you are dating a man:

If his mother slept around, was an alcoholic or drug addict, or any other such behavior, he will probably have a very negative ideation of women
If his mother was abused in the relationship, he may pick up the same habits
If his mother constantly babied him, he will be a mama’s boy who will expect you to take care of all of his needs

Remember, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Find out about your potential lover’s parental relationships and you will have a clear window into understand them.