The question that has intrigued psychologists for years: Do people's faces in long-term relationships start to look the same? Despite the debate, the question has never been scientifically confirmed or refuted.
Now, researchers at Stanford University in the US have used modern technology for this problem. After analyzing thousands of public photos of couples, they believe they can finally provide a solution to the issue.
"It's something people believe in, and we were curious about it," said Pin Pin Tea-makorn, a PhD student at Stanford. "Our initial thought was that if people's faces look alike over time, we can see that which types of characteristics are similar. "
Working with her Stanford colleague Michal Kosinski, Tea-makorn used as its source Google, newspaper anniversary announcements and websites for photos of couples taken at the beginning of their marriages and many years later. From these they compiled a database of photographs from 517 couples, taken within two years of coronation and between 20 and 69 years later.
To test whether the couples' faces became similar over time, the researchers showed the volunteers a photo of a person accompanied by six other faces, one of whom was the spouse and the other five randomly selected faces. . Volunteers were then asked to rank how similar each of the six faces were to the selected individual. The same task was then performed by face recognition software.
In the original study in 1987, the late psychologist Robert Zajonc, of the University of Michigan, concluded that couples' faces became more similar as their marriages continued, and this effect was greater depending on happiness. The explanation, psychologists have argued, is that living with someone shapes people's faces; with diet, lifestyle, time staying out etc.
Sidoqoftë, Tea-makorn dhe Kosinski përshkruajnë se ata nuk gjetën prova për çiftet që dukeshin më të ngjashëm me kalimin e kohës. Sidoqoftë, ata dukeshin më të ngjashëm se në fillim të marrëdhënies së tyre.
Gjetjet sugjerojnë se çiftet e famshme të tilla si Benedict Cumberbatch dhe Sophie Hunter dhe Gisele Bündchen dhe Tom Brady, nuk do të duken më të ngjashëm me kalimin e kohës. Ata thjesht kanë zgjedhur partnerë që kanë tipare të ngjashme me veten.
“Një nga problemet kryesore në shkencat shoqërore është presioni për të dalë me teori të reja, të mahnitshme dhe të vlefshme për lajme. Kjo është mënyra se si publikoheni, punësoheni. Si rezultat, fusha është e mbushur me koncepte dhe teori jo të vërtetuara si duhet,” tha Kosinski.
One of the two researchers' next projects is to investigate claims that people's names can only be accurately predicted by their faces. "We are skeptical," he said.
Burimi: Guardian, Scientific Reports
