Do Faces of People in Long-Term Relationships Grow to Look Alike Over Time

Do opposites really attract? Most of the time, the answer is yes, but several people have already seen that some couples' faces gradually look alike over time, especially those in long-term relationships.

That question has been asked for several decades that it was even included in psychology courses. However, not many people have scientifically proven that the faces of couples start to look the same over time.

Previous studies suggest that couples slowly resemble each other because humans in close contact copy each other's facial expressions.

Now, new research from Stanford University has used modern technology to analyze public photos of couples to know if couples really look alike after being together for many years.

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Couples' Resemblance Grew the Longer They Stay Together

Robert Zajonc, a psychologist from the University of Michigan, conducted an experiment in 1987 to test how couples start to resemble each other. He analyzed photographs of couples from 25 years ago when they were newlyweds and their present photos.

LiveScience reports that Zajonc's study yielded a result that explains couples tend to look more like each other as time goes by. For instance, the happier the couple claimed they are, the more similarity they have on their physical appearance.

According to Zajonc, couples in a long-term relationship looked more alike because humans in close contact copy each other's facial expressions. When one of the couples has a good sense of humor and likes to laugh a lot, he will develop laugh lines around his mouth, and chances are his partner will also have laugh lines.

No Evidence for Couples Looking More Alike as Time Passes

Zajonc's claim may be promising and sounds so interesting, but a team of researchers from Stanford University argued against it, The Guardian reports.

The researchers, namely Pin Pin Tea-makorn, a Ph.D. student, and colleague Michal Kosinski, used technology to analyze photos of couples. Their initial thought was that if couples start to resemble each other, they could focus on what features are most likely to be the same.

Unlike Zajonc who only analyzed a dozen couples, the researchers from Stanford analyzed photographs of 517 couples taken within two years since their wedding and between 20 and 69 years later.

They showed volunteers a photo of a person (target) accompanied by six other faces, with one of them being their spouse. They were then asked to rank every six faces that resemble the target individual. The same method was applied to the cutting-edge software they used.

The study, published in Scientific Reports, said that there is no evidence for couples looking more alike the longer they stayed together. However, couples tend to look more alike than other people at the beginning of their relationship.

According to Tea-makorn, people may seek out people who have the same facial features as them, such as how they look for mates who have the same personalities and values as they have.