Erica Ettin Tribune News Service
If you ask anyone who has siblings whether they find their brother or sister attractive, they’ll probably say a resounding “no.” (Maybe a jaded “no.”) That’s not a surprising answer. It is biologically normal not to have romantic feelings for family members.
But the term ‘opposites attract’ appears to be false, at least in terms of appearance, according to new research from the University of Queensland, published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. The study analyzed how students rated their appearance during speed dating sessions and found that participants rated people who were similar to themselves as more attractive.
“Participants rated partners with geometrically average faces and similar faces as more attractive,” said lead author and Ph.D. said in a statement.
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“Participants also received higher facial attractiveness ratings from partners of the same ethnicity compared to partners of a different ethnicity,” she added. “Interestingly, people with similar facial features rated each other as seeming (more friendly), regardless of ethnicity.”
What is the basis for this discovery?
“Our findings suggest that similar faces provoke a sense of familiarity, and people feel a sense of security, familiarity and belonging to those who resemble themselves,” Zhao said. rice field.
Like other dating trends discovered or highlighted by the internet, this phenomenon even has a name: “doppelbangers.” It’s a play on the German word doppelgänger, which means almost the same thing.
It has also become the subject of a TV show. In her HBO comedy drama Her Series College Girl Sex Her Life Lenny Her Rapp Leighton A 6-inch blonde woman,” he says. And fans of the show (or a quick Google search of her) will find that she essentially describes herself.
With online dating more popular than ever, many are making instant decisions about relationships based on physical attractiveness. If you like someone’s photo on Bumble, swipe right. If not, swipe left and it will never appear again.
But this study might make you think again about your own biases, and how making decisions based on looks doesn’t always lead to the perfect match. (Ask Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen.)
In this study, you may have found that people who are opposites in appearance are unattractive, but maybe your soulmate is the opposite in personality.
Introverts can come out of their shells with extroverts, and partygoers might benefit from someone who prefers to spend the night. You may love to travel the world, but you don’t need multiple people if you have the right people. -Bedroom apartment. Or, if you spend all your time indoors, you might miss people who describe themselves as outdoorsy until they try them out.
Sure, it’s nice to have a few common hobbies you can share, but maybe some of your favorite hobbies you haven’t tried yet. And more importantly, your worldview and values should match to some extent.
The point is, like it or not, we all have prejudices when it comes to physical appearance that can get in the way of meaningful connections.
Next time you’re scrolling through a dating app or website, challenge yourself to actually read someone’s profile instead of just looking at it. Sometimes a seemingly average person suddenly becomes a lot more interesting when they know what they have to offer.
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