When choosing a partner, his face means more to us than the body, women are able to “read the face” information about male fertility, and the longer the relationship, the more the partners become similar to each other in appearance – these are the conclusions American scientists came to. Is it all true?
Imagine that we could assemble the partner of our dreams as a constructor by selecting the necessary “spare part” from the catalog. What facial features would we single out among others? What do we find attractive in the “body” section? With these questions, researchers Karin Perillou and James Cloud turned to 260 American subjects. Heterosexual participants aged between 20 and 75 were asked to “pick up” two optimal partners: one for a short-term affair, the other for a long-term relationship.
Respondents did not have to focus on the model faces and bodies of athletes, the task was different: each had a certain number of points that they could distribute according to ten physical qualities. Scientists divided the subjects into two groups, giving them a different number of points: the “rich” had 70 points, the “poor” – only 30, so the latter had to be more economical.
Face in focus
The results of the experiment showed that both women and men preferred an attractive face to a beautiful body, regardless of whether it was a short-term or long-term relationship. With one exception: as soon as men had a limited amount of “experimental money” and, as a result, fewer opportunities to model the ideal woman, they chose a mistress (but not a life partner), paying attention mainly to attractive body shapes, and not to a face. .
Karine Perillou and James Cloud explain this by our biology, which has stood the test of evolution. According to their thesis, men, following an archaic program, pay attention to the wide hips of a potential partner, “promising” reproductive success. On the other hand, “low-budget” female respondents showed a tendency to opt for a beautiful face, perhaps because women are more subtle in reading nature’s cues: “Previous studies have shown that women can draw accurate conclusions about fertility from a man’s face.” .
But biopsychologist Peter Walshburger disagrees. He believes that for women the appearance of a partner is not as important as for men. “Women are not as receptive to visual stimuli as men,” he says. They unconsciously look for a reliable person with whom they can feel safe, and first of all they recognize a protector in a man.
Love at first sight?
Although lovers like to emphasize the importance of each other’s spiritual values, referring to the consonance of souls that they were able to feel from the first minutes, in fact, the true “detonator” is the appearance. “30% of our brains are exclusively engaged in the processing of visual stimuli,” explains Andreas Bartels, head of the research team from the University of Tübingen (Germany).
Often the feeling of love arises at first sight. At the same time, men prefer women with smooth, “soft” faces, and women like eye-catching, special faces. A significant role in the typical male and typical female appearance is played by the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen.
External resemblance – a sign of great love?
Seeing the similarity between a dog and its owner, many of us involuntarily smile. But do we look for similar traits not only in our pets, but also in partners? It would seem that it sounds strange, and it is believed that we are attracted mainly by opposites. But partners who have lived together for a long time are really surprisingly similar. And scientists have figured out why.
Similarity seems to play an important role already at the start of a relationship – when choosing a partner. We often fall in love with people whose facial features resemble ours. Similar eyes, the same look inspire trust, disposition and sympathy in us. Scientists offer a logical explanation for this: the external similarity subconsciously makes people similar to us “related”, “corresponding to us”, as if we have close DNA. Thus, our body is looking for the perfect partner for reproduction.
It seems that people who laugh a lot with each other, over time, the same wrinkles appear on their faces – “traces” of laughter
Researchers at the University of Michigan studied photographs of long-term partners. The result was impressive: partners who have been in a relationship for more than 25 years are often very similar to each other (although this may be due to the same diet and lifestyle). But something else surprised the researchers: partners who describe their relationship as happy show an even more striking resemblance to the extent that you might think that you are a brother and sister.
Scientists have found a beautiful explanation for this phenomenon: it seems that people who laugh a lot with each other, over time, the same wrinkles appear on their faces – “traces” of laughter. Or – the seal of a common happy life.