Majority of Germans Prefer Character over Wealth in Partner

File photo: Tourists take pictures of themselves at the Berlin Wall. Wolfgang Kumm/AFP
File photo: Tourists take pictures of themselves at the Berlin Wall. Wolfgang Kumm/AFP
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Majority of Germans Prefer Character over Wealth in Partner

File photo: Tourists take pictures of themselves at the Berlin Wall. Wolfgang Kumm/AFP
File photo: Tourists take pictures of themselves at the Berlin Wall. Wolfgang Kumm/AFP

A new survey revealed that character is one of the most important factors that the majority of Germans take into consideration when choosing their partners.

The survey’s results showed that character topped the list of factors sought by 56 percent of women and 51 percent of men when choosing a life partner.

The survey asked the participants to arrange six traits from most to least important when choosing a life partner. The proposed characteristics were: character, sense of humor, intelligence, common interests, physical appearance, and wealth.

According to the survey, the importance of sense of humor significantly differed between both genders. It was the most important trait to look for in the partner for 17 percent of women, and 11 percent of men.

As per physical appearance, it ranked first among 7 percent of women, and 17 percent of men, while both sexes agreed that wealth was the least important feature when choosing a partner.

The survey, which was conducted by the YouGov Institute, ran from July 23 to August 30, and polled more than 2,000 Germans over 18 years old.

The institute conducted the survey in 19 other countries, founding that character is one of the most important qualities that women seek when choosing a life partner. This characteristic was of great importance to women in the Scandinavian countries: Sweden, Denmark and Norway, 73 percent, 69 percent, and 66 percent respectively.

Character and physical appearance came in the same rank, as the most sought after trait when looking for a life partner among men in Indonesia (35 percent). Overall, the survey showed that men who see appearance as one of the most important traits is greater in all countries where women named appearance as the most important characteristic when choosing a partner.

In general, appearance plays an important role in choosing a life partner. Previous studies have shown that women feel strongly attracted to men who resemble their fathers, while men had affinity for women who resemble their mothers.



Droughts in Iraq Endanger Buffalo, and Farmers' Livelihoods

A man provides fresh drinking water for his buffaloes, in the Chebayesh marshes of Dhi Qar province, Iraq, April 18, 2025. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani
A man provides fresh drinking water for his buffaloes, in the Chebayesh marshes of Dhi Qar province, Iraq, April 18, 2025. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani
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Droughts in Iraq Endanger Buffalo, and Farmers' Livelihoods

A man provides fresh drinking water for his buffaloes, in the Chebayesh marshes of Dhi Qar province, Iraq, April 18, 2025. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani
A man provides fresh drinking water for his buffaloes, in the Chebayesh marshes of Dhi Qar province, Iraq, April 18, 2025. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani

Iraq’s buffalo population has more than halved in a decade as the country's two main rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, suffer severe droughts that endanger the livelihood of many farmers and breeders.
"People have left ... We are a small number of houses remaining," said farmer Sabah Ismail, 38, who rears buffalo in the southern province of Dhi Qar.
"The situation is difficult ... I had 120 to 130 buffalo; now I only have 50 to 60. Some died, and we sold some because of the drought," said Ismail while tending his herd.
Buffalo have been farmed for centuries in Iraq for their milk, and are mentioned in ancient Sumerian inscriptions from the region.
According to Iraqi marshland experts, the root causes of the water crisis driving farmers out of the countryside are climate change, upstream damming in Türkiye and Iran, outdated domestic irrigation techniques and a lack of long-term management plans.
The country has also endured decades of warfare.
Located within the cultivable lands known as the Fertile Crescent that have been farmed for millennia, the Iraqi landscape has suffered from upstream damming of the Tigris and Euphrates and lower rainfall, threatening the lifestyle of farmers like Ismail and leading many to move to the cities.
Iraqi marshland expert Jassim al-Assadi told Reuters that the number of buffalo in Iraq had fallen since 2015 from 150,000 to fewer than 65,000.
The decline is "mostly due to natural reasons: the lack of needed green pastures, pollution, illness ... and also farmers refraining from farming buffalos due to scarcity of income," al-Assadi said.
A drastic decline in crop production and a rise in fodder prices have also left farmers struggling to feed their animals.
The difficulty of maintaining a livelihood in Iraq's drought-stricken rural areas has contributed to growing migration towards the country's already-choked urban centers.
"This coming summer, God only knows, the mortality rate may reach half," said Abdul Hussain Sbaih, 39, an Iraqi buffalo breeder.