Thought of the day - Convergence of Appearance.
Convergence (in a relationship) suggests that the longer you're with a partner (decade/s) the more you resemble each other.
Had a nice conversation with a friend of mine today on this subject. I mean, we've all seen, or maybe know couples who refer to themselves in the plural, have matching shirts, similar hairstyle, and — oddly — even seem to look like each other. Oh, they even tend to have same preferences. What's the catch? Is it commodity?
Why would people start to morph slowly into their partners?
One theory comes from psychologist Robert Zajonc of the University of Michigan in 1987 - Zajonc and his team asked volunteers to match photographs of men and women based on their facial similarity, and found that couples who'd been married for 25 years were overwhelmingly paired together.
Zajonc thought it was because a long life together meant shared experiences that left similar lines on faces, and that couples would therefore begin to look more similar.
Zajonc's theory of emotional face-mirroring was based on a basic principle: We imitate the people we're around the most. This phenomenon, called "unconscious mimicry," has been known for ages.
My conclusion:
If you live with an earthling for more than a decade you might become One Mixed Being.
Question:
Who's gonna be the "lost" one? Or is a 2way road?
Study:
http://annenberg.usc.edu/sites/default/files/2015/04/29/Convergence%20in%20the%20Physical%20Appearnce%20of%20Spouses.pdf
Articles:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-mysteries-love/201505/are-we-attracted-people-who-look-us
http://www.livescience.com/8384-couples-start.html
https://mic.com/articles/111010/there-s-a-disturbing-fact-about-the-people-we-choose-to-be-with#.F05pJFojV
#personalnonsense #couples #convergence
Interesting idea, I do see that sometimes. Perhaps, with others it is more the mental side, thinking alike?
ReplyDeleteDoes your conclusion imply you are not an earthling? I will admit to suspecting ethereal origins at times :-)
ReplyDeleteLike the Clintons! 😆
ReplyDeleteWe tend to date people similar to us in some way... such as education level
ReplyDeleteI can understand the assortative mating Sam Collett , it's not hard to understand why you like somebody who knows what you're talking about.
Physical appearance alteration intrigues me.
Well, I'm so very human with a tone of flaws Hudson Ansley ...and a huge curiosity.
ReplyDeleteOra mi spiego perche i cani sembrano sempre somigliare al padrone. Lo impersonano per amore!
ReplyDeleteJust throwing out another possibility is that living in close relation to another person means adopting a microbiome similar to theirs. Which some evidence suggests may lead to similarities in physical state and behavior.
ReplyDeleteNow, I'm going to caveat my comment heavily: microbiome and gut bacteria are very far from well understood yet. Don't rush out and buy live culture yogurt. That said, there are studies in mice showing gut bacteria having very strong effects upon physical state and mental state.
Interesting idea Bryce Etheridge .
ReplyDeleteSimilar microbiome makes sense, since meals are more likely to be shared, so diets can be similar. Though there could be a sneaky bite (or 10) of a dessert, or another guilty pleasure. Is Tiramisu good for the gut?
ReplyDeleteCorina Marinescu sarà interessante come dici tu, ma io non ho capito come fà l'intestino a comandare il cervello ? Hahaha😂
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