In the same vein, women in the less gender-gapped countries were less likely to value income or age as appealing characteristics in the opposite sex.

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Premiums vary widely by marital status, age and sex because these characteristics point to potential claim activity.

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In addition to looking at personal characteristics such as age and relationship status, the researchers divided the countries into high- and middle-to-low income groups according to average household earnings.

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One of the great characteristics of our age, one that no doubt will be a subject of amusement to future generations, is our post-modern desire to show the guts of everything.

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There are no characteristics in terms of age, sex, social or cultural background -- the only characteristic is to live relatively close to the area where the projects are carried out, in Paris.

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For many years, psychologists have believed (and have found data to support) the idea that, when somebody encounters a stranger, the stranger's characteristics are slotted into three pigeon-holes: sex, age and race.

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To confirm this result, the researchers also looked at characteristics such as each participant's birthweight, his mother's age when she gave birth, the mother's level of education and her marital status, all of which differ, on average, between the poor and the middle classes.

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