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The studies of so-called homogamy have shown that the majority of mates resemble each other in a high number of traits. We suggest that imprinting-like mechanisms, rather than “direct” genetic detection (phenotype matching) are responsible for choosing similar mates. Under the influence of family background children internalize the phenotype of their opposite-sex parent as a template for acquiring mates. In accordance, comparing more than 300 facial photographs of family members, we found a high degree of similarity between the husbands’ mothers and the husbands’ wives. Furthermore, a regression analysis has revealed that men who had been more frequently rejected by their mother during childhood were less likely to choose mates who resemble their mothers in physical appearance (see Bereczkei et al 2002). In order to disentangle the effects of phenotypic matching and sexual imprinting, adopted daughters and their rearing families were examined. Judges found significant resemblance on facial traits between daughter’s husband and her adoptive father. Furthermore, this effect may be modified by the quality of the father-daughter relationship during childhood. Daughters who received more emotional support from their adoptive father were more likely to choose mates similar to the father than those whose father provided a less positive emotional atmosphere (Bereczkei et al. 2004, Gyuris and Bereczkei 2004). Recently, we have obtained more direct evidence for assessing facial resemblance between the subjects’ partner and the subjects’ parents. Fourteen facial proportions were measured on 312 adults belonging to 52 families, and the correlations between family members were compared to those of pairs randomly selected from the population. We found significant correlations between the young man and his partner’s father (but not her mother), especially on facial proportions belonging to the central area of face. Women also showed resemblance to their partner’s mother (but not his father) in the facial characteristics of their lower face. Our results support sexual imprinting hypothesis stating that children shape a mental template of their opposite-sex parents and search for a partner who resemble that perceptual schema. The fact that only the opposite-sex parents’ facial metrics showed resemblance to the partner’s face tend to rule out the role of familiarity in shaping mating preferences. In a recent study Big Five Inventory was used to examine similarities and differences on fundamental dimensions of personality in homosexual people (Gyuris et al. 2005). No significant correlations have been found between mates in personality traits in either heterosexuals or homosexuals. At the same time, an interesting result – more exactly, a lack of a significant relationship – was found: compared to heterosexuals, homosexuals, on average, did not show a difference in any of the five subscales of the Big Five Inventory. The measured similarities in personality traits correspond with some recent studies that concluded that homosexuals have the same set of psychological mechanisms, including sexual mental processes that heterosexuals do, except for sexual orientation. Now we aim at investigating the role of personality traits (such as extraversion) in mate choice in a large sample of heterosexual people. The hypothesis is that homogamy for personality traits goes back to childhood experiences; children internalize their opposite-sex parent’s psychological attitudes and use them as a template in mate choice.
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