Studies Have Found That There Is a Scientific Truth to the Conjugal Aspect

With the explosive popularity of the movie "Lost in Thailand," the actor Huang Bo in the film has attracted significant attention. Recently, a set of photos released by netizens featuring him with his wife and daughter has sparked heated discussion. In one of the photos, the couple's appearances are surprisingly similar, prompting netizens to exclaim, "They really have the 'conjugal look'!" We often see such cases in our daily lives. Why do two people with no blood relation look so similar?

We often encounter such cases in daily life. Why do two people with absolutely no blood relation look so alike?

Most people believe that only those who look alike are a couple

In daily life, we often see couples walking hand in hand, their appearances very similar, sometimes even mistaking them for siblings. Thus, we often say that such couples have a strong "conjugal look."

US researchers recently conducted a specific test: they recruited 22 volunteers, half male and half female, and asked them to guess which men and women among 160 photos were couples. The results showed that both male and female volunteers consistently identified couples with similar appearances, with an accuracy rate of over 70%.

So, why does the "conjugal look" phenomenon occur? Some believe that the so-called "conjugal look" is actually an illusion, caused by people subjectively exaggerating the similarities in appearance between spouses. Others attribute it to the fact that they live together for years, sharing similar daily habits, dietary structures, and living environments, which leads to the "conjugal look." Which explanation is more reliable? A. Psychological Origins: We Are Attracted to People Who Look Like Us

"As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. A basic principle of interpersonal relationships is similarity—mutual liking and attraction." Xu Yang, a psychological counselor in Dalian, introduced that attraction is strongly influenced by similarity. People with similar backgrounds, personalities, attitudes, and appearances are more likely to attract each other.

Xu Yang stated that finding similarities in others is comforting. In interactions with them, we assume that those similar to us may also like us, so we look forward to pleasant and friendly interactions. "In this process, the other person's reactions let us know if our approach is appropriate. Generally, interactions go smoothly, and conflicts between the two parties are minimal. "

B. Genetic Selection: Choosing Similar Partners Helps Transmit Genetic Material

However, in further research on mate selection, there is a common finding: people usually marry those who are similar to themselves, a phenomenon known as "assortative mating." Xu Yang explained that in almost every variable considered, from race and ethnicity to behavioral patterns, people choose partners similar to themselves, including physical characteristics such as height, weight, nose bridge height, and earlobe length. There is a positive correlation between spouses.

"From the perspective of biological evolution, this phenomenon is called 'selfish preference.'" Xu Yang said, species evaluate internal genetic similarity based on external appearance similarity, so people are subconsciously attracted to those who look or behave similarly to themselves. Past studies have found that when choosing friends or romantic partners, the similarity of genetic genes accounts for one-third of the weight in selection criteria.

Xu Yang believes that marrying someone with similar genes ensures that one's gene pool is reliably preserved and passed on to offspring, which is beneficial for species reproduction. Of course, spouses cannot be too genetically similar—in many countries and regions, close relatives are not allowed to marry, and geneticists also state that spouses need certain genetic differences to ensure the health of the gene pool.

C. Parental Influence: Boys Choose Partners Like Their Mothers, Girls Like Their Fathers

Aside from the selection of similar genes, members of the Scientific Squirrel Club have written that some studies indicate that the facial conditions for human partner selection are also influenced by the "imprinting effect": choosing partners similar to one's parents. Famous psychologist Freud attributed the "conjugal look" phenomenon to the "Oedipus complex" or "Electra complex." Hungarian scientist Tamas Bereczkei believed that an innate "mate recognition mechanism" allows individuals to instinctively seek out other individuals similar to themselves as mates. The human "mate recognition mechanism" establishes a mate selection standard in children's minds from a young age, based on the appearance of parents of the opposite sex. Even adopted daughters with no blood relation have the same preference.

D. Lifestyle Influence: Unconsciously Mimicking Each Other

Xu Yang believes that the "conjugal look" depends not only on initial mate selection but also on the couple's shared life experiences over the years. Psychologists at the University of Michigan have studied the "conjugal look" phenomenon. By analyzing photos of couples when they first married and 25 years later, they found that as time passes, these couples look more and more like each other. Moreover, the happier the couple, the higher their similarity.

The research speculated that, excluding the similarities in daily habits, dietary structures, and living environments, the longer couples live together, the more they resemble each other because people, in the process of intimate contact, perceive the other's emotions and subconsciously mimic each other's facial expressions. Over time, smiles and expressions gradually become consistent, making two originally different appearances look similar. "In other words, if your partner has laugh lines around their mouth because they laugh a lot due to their sense of humor, you will too," Xu Yang said.

Of course, the similarity between couples is not only manifested in appearance but also in temperament and behavioral characteristics, such as one party liking to use hand gestures while speaking, and the other party exhibiting similar characteristics.

Did you know? Couples who are more similar are happier

Experts have stated that couples with similar genes tend to have happier marriages. Such families rarely experience child abuse, and the divorce rate is lower. At the same time, couples with similar genes tend to be more selfless in their marital life. Xu Yang also stated that judging the relationship between a couple cannot be done solely by looking at appearances; "behavioral convergence, similar language, and mutual support in emotions naturally lead to a happy life. "

Reporter Liu Shuang

Not only conjugal faces but also conjugal diseases

People who live together for a long time often contract many diseases simultaneously.

Studies have found that from cancer, diabetes, hypertension to ischemic heart disease, if one spouse is ill, the other's probability of illness increases significantly. People who live together for a long time, due to similar dietary habits, living environments, and lifestyles, often contract many diseases simultaneously. The name "conjugal disease" seems fresh, but the underlying principle has long been proposed by researchers. For example, the relationship between smoking and lung cancer is very close. If a husband smokes for years, his wife and children will inhale a large amount of secondhand smoke, increasing the risk of lung cancer and oral cancer; a high-salt diet increases the risk of stomach disease, especially for families that love smoked and pickled foods, where it is difficult for the couple to escape.

  Comments: Explaining this from the perspective of scientific research is acceptable, but interpreting it through metaphysics is also a perspective. After marriage, the personal fortune of the couple is closely linked, and they often live in the same place, subject to the same feng shui influences. Naturally, their bodies, diseases, and health will also show synchronized phenomena. The longer the time, the smaller the differences in their destiny, and this situation becomes more obvious.

As for the idea that the more similar they are, the happier they are, there is some truth to it, but there is a logical confusion here. It is not that the more similar they are, the happier they are, but rather that the more harmonious they are, the more similar they become.