A study shows that you will end up looking like your partner

A study has shown that after 25 years of marriage couples tend to experience a strong physical resemblance between the two. It is not that people tend to choose other people who are physically similar to themselves as partners, but rather that with the passage of time the resemblance between the two tends to converge. As strange as this may seem, the psychologist Robert Zajonc has carried out a study where he tries to explain why this happens.

The study

Broadly speaking, the experiment was very simple: a group of 110 subjects were shown photographs of individual men and women in their first year of marriage and asked to guess who was married to whom.

A second group of subjects were shown photographs of the same people but after being married for 25 years. They were again asked to try to guess who was married to whom.

After carrying out several experiments, the results showed that the subjects of the second group always showed a much higher percentage of correct answers than those of the first group..

That is, it was much easier for an outside observer to identify someone's husband or wife if they had been married for 25 years..

In other words, if you stay with your partner, in 20 years there will be great chances that you will resemble each other physically. It is to think twice. The study did not end here and they tried to explain through 4 hypotheses why this happens:

Explanations

1. Diet

If you eat the same as your partner for 20 years, it is very likely that you will end up having similar physiques. A high-fat diet will create round, personable faces in both partners..

2. Environment

Exposure to the same environmental factors, such as the sun, will generate a same skin type and tone over the years. In the same way, an environment conducive to practicing sport will facilitate the fact that both women and men practice it. As a result, both will look healthier and more athletic over the years..

3. Predisposition

The predisposition is based on the idea that people tend to choose as a partner other people who can age in a similar way to ours. For example, depressed people tend to attract other depressed people. Over the years they will both end up looking like a depressed couple.

4. Empathy

This is my preferred explanation. People tend to resemble our partner because over the years we empathize with their way of being, acting and behaving. Unconsciously we copy facial expressions from our partner such as certain gestures or a certain smile. With the passage of time that way of smiling becomes our own and both members of the couple end up smiling in the same way.

As a consequence, the physical resemblance is accentuated. Continuing with this idea, we could also ask ourselves if physical resemblance is an indicator of happiness. That is, if a couple has managed to empathize better, they will probably also be happier..

Zajonc's study focused on physical resemblance. If we go into the psychological aspect it would give for a much more in-depth debate.

Source: Psyblog