Couples That Look Alike

I'm ill. I seem to have caught a cold when recently the weather in the UK has been amazing. Nice sunny warm weather and I've been stuck at home spending most of my time in bed. So I thought to myself that I should do something and then it hit me.

Ever seen a couple walking down the street holding hands? Of course you have. Ever seen two people walking together and you think to yourself "Why is that guy holding his sister's hand?". You've probably seen and thought that too and then you find out that isn't his sister. There is an explanation into why these couples resemble each other so strongly that many people like myself think they are siblings. It's kind of like dog owners resembling their dogs.

When people generally think of love, a few quotes float through their minds such as 'opposites attract'. But is that exactly true? Clearly these couples are evidence contrary to this quote. I suppose it's not as simple as that.

The first study I will briefly discuss was led by Robert Zajonic (http://zajonc.socialpsychology.org/) who is no longer with us. He died from cancer in 2008. Couples had photographs taken when they just got married and then had photographs taken 25 years later (that's if the marriage lasted that long). These were then compared. In simple terms, the results were that over time the couples facial features resembled each other. If they were a happy couple, then the physical similarity was at a higher rate. Zajonic concluded that this may be because they were always in close contact with each other and they probably shared the same habits i.e. they slept at the same time, ate the same food and did the same kind of physical activities.

In 2006, the University of Liverpool conducted a study and asked volunteers to study photographs taken of couples. The volunteers were unaware whom was married to whom. It would have been pointless if they did. The results obtained were that couples who had been together the longest were percieved to have similar appearances and their personalities were matched together by the volunteers. Researchers stated that by possessing certain personality traits may be a factor in making an individual of the opposite gender's facial features attractive.

A study published in Evolutionary Psychology Journal asked questions to 750 members of a dating website regrading their personality traits. They were then asked what traits they looked for in their ideal partner and whether they wanted their parnter to complement their personality or resemble them. The data they collected was processed and showed that members had a preference for someone with the same sort of personality (which included neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness). The University of Iowa supported this finding in 2005 by stating that similarity in personality was more important than similarities in attitude, religion, and values in forming a happy marriage. Like-minded people validate each other's beliefs and views, and there tend to be fewer conflicts as a result.

Here's another article I've found that was published in Evolutionary Psyhcology Journal back in 2004 entitled: Narcissism guides mate selection: Humans mate assortatively, as revealed by facial resemblance, following an algorithm of “self seeking like”. It is only 14 pages long and is a good read. http://www.epjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/ep02177194.pdf

Below are some photographs of couples that strongly resemble each other.

It's a bit freaky right. Especially the last one. They really do look like brother and sister. There could be another reason why women sought men who resemble them. It's a well known fact that has been backed up by science that women who are 'daddy's girls' were more likely to find men who shared facial similarities with their fathers as attractive. That's a bit fucked up considering they get half their DNA from their father but that's one of the weird things in this world.

There is a website called Find Your FaceMate.com (www.findyourfacemate.com). It analyses your facial features from key areas and finds the best matches on its database. Perhaps you should try it just as an experiment. I'm quite curious myself but I may not like the end result. Haha. Who knows, if you have a girlfriend/boyfriend, they may not be the love of your life.

Here is a youtube video of two couples who used the site. Again, quite freaky.



So taking all this information in, I guess my girlfriend is going to be a Victoria's Secret Model, no? Haha.