Dating site takes new approach

There’s a line from the movie “Rocky” that has stuck with Larry Wilson since he was a child.

“I dunno, she’s got gaps, I got gaps, together we fill gaps,” Rocky says when asked why he’s attracted to Adrian.

Filling gaps is what Wilson, a 45-year-old single guy and entrepreneur living in Delmar, N.Y., hopes to do with OppositesConnect.com, a free (for now) dating Web site that he officially launched June 21.

Unlike online matchmaking juggernauts Match.com and eHarmony.com, OppositesConnect.com directs you to partners who are different from you, with opposite likes, interests and perspectives.

Though the prevailing wisdom among relationship experts is that similarities are what hold couples together, Wilson said his experience dating like-minded women on other sites left him bored.

“Everybody’s alike, and they all like the same things, lah-di-dah,” said Wilson, who started his career in the cartoon and comic book business. “There was nothing to spark a lively debate.”

With the help of three psychotherapists, Wilson came up with a 75-question quiz that tests members on five personality dichotomies, such as extrovert versus introvert and overfunctioning (read: Type A) versus underfunctioning (Type B). Members can search for partners based on age and location.

Wilson said that the formula is careful not to match people who are “combustible opposites” (for example, someone extremely outgoing with someone extremely shy) and that some questions try to establish shared values and moral ground rather than differences.