Have you noticed that spouses look alike to each other? Somehow, the longer a couple has been together, the more they seem to mirror not only each other’s expressions but their physical features, too?
Somehow, their appearance seems to change and the longer they've been married, the stronger the similarities. Have ever noticed this phenomenon? Psst, go take a look at your latest picture of you and your spouse.
Apparently, there are psychological studies conducted by researchers about why married couples grow to have similar appearances.
A psychologist from the University of Michigan in the United States, Robert Zanjonc, has conducted a detailed study to collect wedding photos and compare those images with the couple’s most recent images.
Apparently, through the results of the study, he found the face of an old married couple will appear to be almost the spitting image of one another.
In fact, according to him, the happier the couple was in their relationship, the more similar their faces appeared. Interesting, is it not? One can’t help but beg the question, how would something like this occur?
Two reasons why spouses look alike:
1. Sharing the same experiences
Among the reasons why an individual’s face begins to look similar to his or her spouse's, is because we share the same experiences.
We live together, eat together, sleep alongside one another. Is it really a surprise that our features begin to reflect each other?
Yeah, we've been through a magnitude of experiences together. The good, the bad, the exciting, the mundane, and so many other aspects of life. Your life after marriage is essentially a shared story.
The result? Whether we choose to notice it or not, our experiences and the life that we build together during our marriage begins to manifest in our personalities, body language, and our physical condition.
Confronted with the same hardships, the wrinkles and creases of worry and stress even begin to match those of your spouse.
2. We begin to imitate each other’s expressions subconsciously
One of the most basic reasons as to why married couples appear to have the same appearance, it is because we are compelled to imitate the facial expressions of our partner on a subconscious level.
What this means to say is that without deliberate intent, your subconscious mind starts to adopt expressions and mannerisms off one another.
According to the study conducted by Robert Zajonc, the more you spend time with your spouse, the longer you are married, the more you tend to imitate their facial expressions and gestures.
This ‘copying’ of something as simple as facial expressions, over time, leaves the couple looking more and more like they were cut from the same block.
Romantic or strange?
We’ll let you be the judge of that! To be fair it is pretty cute to think that your husband loves you so much, without even thinking about it, that he starts to pick up on the little things that make you, you.
The same goes for the opposite, you begin to, without conscious thought, start to behave a little more like your #1 guy!
Source: FemaleNetwork
Also read: 14 Traits That Let You Know Your Wife is a Keeper!
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