Why some longtime lovers look alike

[Beorn]

http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060214/060214_lookalikes_hmed_9a.hmedium.jpg



Forget about opposites attracting. We like people who look like us, because they tend to have personalities similar to our own. And, a new study suggests, the longer we are with someone, the more similarities in appearance grow.

Researchers set out to investigate why couples often tend to resemble one another. They asked 11 male and 11 female participants to judge the age, attractiveness and personality traits of 160 real-life married couples. Photographs of husbands and wives were viewed separately, so the participants didn't know who was married to whom.
The test participants rated men and woman who were actual couples as looking alike and having similar personalities. Also, the longer the couples had been together, the greater the perceived similarities.The researchers speculate that the sharing of experiences might affect how couples look.

A biological reason

The idea that there is a connection between appearance and personality might seem odd at first, but there could be biological reasons for a link, said study member Tony Little from the University of Liverpool in England.
"Testosterone is linked to masculine face shapes and it also affects behavior," Little told LiveSciencehttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/2_bing.gif (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11346164/#). "Also, the face displays our emotions and over time emotional expressions may become written in the face."
For example, someone who smiles a lot may develop lines and muscles that are suggestive of someone who is happy.
Other studies have shown that partners who are genetically similar to each other tend to have happier marriages (http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060213_attraction_rules.html). Similarities in personalities and physical features might be one way to gauge genetic similarity.

Smiles and eyes

The new study, to be detailed in the March issue of the journal Personality and Individual Differences, indicates that people home in on a variety of different features when using facial appearance to make decisions about someone's personality, and that the particular cues focused on change from face to face. Vital to the decision, however, are eyes and smiles.
"Smiles are important social cues that may tell us whether or not someone is friendly, and eyes are also a traditional focus of attention," Little said.Overall face shape (http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060213_attraction_rules.html) can be important too. For example, the combination of masculine features, large chins, and dominant brow ridges can create an impression of disagreeableness and being unwilling to cooperate, Little said.

The researchers are currently looking for people who are both single and in relationships to take part in an online study to investigate whether an individual's physical and personality traits influence their personal preferences. More information can be found at www.alittlelab.com (http://www.alittlelab.com/).


Source (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11346164/)

[_______]

must be picky in future! :D

[Rosenrot]

Maybe for the same reason that dogs gets owner's appearence and personality >D

[Agrippa]

Nothing new. Partner selection, especially for long term relationships, always included favoured traits and traits which are being perceived as less attractive, BUT MORE OR LESS PROBLEMATIC.

So both the ideal partner and what is still ACCEPTABLE depends often on the own traits, especially if the individual is not affected by cultural degeneration and manipulation.

To give an example, people with convex noses have less of a problem and a higher preference for people with convex noses usually, the same goes for concave shaped noses.

This was proven long time ago and is one of the reasons why even in highly mixed areas, under more natural conditions, you can often find rather typologically pure couples and people, since even among the mixed, those which are more alike will find back to each other STATISTICALLY.

Something like that can be observed in some mixed racial groups as well, for example among mulattoes, with some lines breeding back to Europoid or Negroid over a couple of generations, simply due to social and partner selection.

[Curtis24]

But do the facial traits of married couples really change over time to resemble each other?

[Sikeliot]

I think if anything it's more that people pick up facial expressions and mannerisms of one another.

[SwordoftheVistula]

Phillippe Rushton had a presentation back in 2006 showing this.

I don't know if people actually grow more alike in appearance over time. Part of it might be that features get less gender specific as they age. Also if people share the same food and activity routines, they will develop the same body type.

[Star Valley]

It is almost like the myth (possibly true) that if you have a well-loved pet you will grow to resemble your pet.
What if one has numerous precious long-term loves, what will they look like then? ;)
I never appreciated eyes, but now I see it as a blessing to have a compliment on eyes. Since it is the center of attraction.

[Star Valley]

It is almost like the myth (possibly true) that if you have a well-loved pet you will grow to resemble your pet.
What if one has numerous precious long-term loves, what will they look like then? ;)
I never appreciated eyes, but now I see it as a blessing to have a compliment on eyes after reading this thread. Since it is the center of attraction.