Posted on 02/10/2006 10:18:31 AM PST by girlangler
News Release March 29, 2004
Study Reveals That Dogs Resemble Their Owners As a Result of Selection
Do people really resemble their pets? A resemblance in a movie or on TV between a pet and its owner has occasionally tickled our funny bone. The results of a recent study suggest that a resemblance between owner and dog may be actually determined by the pet lover's selection.
The research, by Michael M. Roy and Nicholas Christenfeld, both of the University of California, San Diego, found that when people pick a pet, they seek one that, at some level, resembles them. These findings will be published in the May issue of Psychological Science, a publication of the American Psychological Society.
The study investigated two possible scenarios that could produce similarity between people and their dogs. One would involve some convergence in features over time, meaning the similarity had grown with the length of ownership. The other would involve people selecting dogs that are like them. (This second situation suggests greater similarity between people and their purebred dogs than between people and their mutts, because a mutt puppy's final appearance is unpredictable, and its selection might also involve less foresight and deliberation.)
Forty-five dogs (25 purebreds and 20 mutts) and their owners were separately photographed. Owners were photographed from the waist up, wearing whatever clothes they had chosen that day and whatever facial expression they chose for the picture. Dogs were photographed facing forward, with the whole dog visible. (The dogs also made whatever facial expression they chose, though often with more emphasis on a steadily lolling tongue.) Judges were shown a picture of one owner and a picture of that owner's dog and one other dog, with the task of picking out the true match.
The judges were able to most often able to properly match the owner and dog. The judges found no resemblance between mutts and their owners, providing evidence that owners tend to choose a dog that looks like them, rather than owners and dogs grow alike over time.
For more information, contact Christenfeld at nchristenfeld@ucsd.edu, or for a complete copy of this article, visit the APS Media Center at www.psychologicalscience.org/media.
Psychological Science is ranked among the top 10 general psychology journals for impact by the Institute for Scientific Information. The American Psychological Society represents advocating science-based research in the public's interest.
... and we have the same overbite. Uncanny.
Funny that you left out the fact that you both slobber insessently, and both have dog breath
I won't tell them you both drink out of the toilet...
Thanks, LJ...even though I'm a cat person...
Apparently I am on the right side of the photo!
;<)
Beautiful, as always, Grammie.
Do you have a picture of your pup?
Dooooooooode. Look up.
That's cold Pete.
what else can you tell us....
you apperantly missed the secret message...
HAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
GlockRocks says I can view pics of my Lucy here.
I think she is beautiful. I'd be proud to look like her.
http://images16.fotki.com/v273/photos/2/229253/973301/lucy-vi.jpg"
I've heard that dog breath is because of the constant licking ......
Wait, what is that evil looking thing lurking just behind my dog in that pic?
Oh, it's my cat Tsali.
They've been known to be in cahoots when it comes to scheming me for food. Shameless begging.
Ha! :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
![http://images16.fotki.com/v273/photos/2/229253/973301/lucy-vi.jpg"](http://images16.fotki.com/v273/photos/2/229253/973301/lucy-vi.jpg"){kind=link}