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Women fall for men who look like dad
The Telegraph ^ | 13/06/2007 | Paul Stokes

Posted on 06/13/2007 6:28:42 AM PDT by Daffynition

Girls who enjoy a good early relationship with their father are more likely to choose boyfriends and husbands who look like them, new research suggests.

Zoe Ball, daughter of Johnny Ball, and Norman Cook; girls who enjoy a good early relationship with their father are more likely to choose boyfriends and husbands who look like them, new research suggests.

The findings are from a scientific study into what attracts a woman to a man's face when looking for Mr Right.

They are borne out in the cases Nigella Lawson, the celebrity chef, Zoe Ball, the radio presenter and Kim Wilde, the 1980s pop singer daughter of the 1950s pop idol father Marty Wilde who married the actor Hal Fowler. Psychologists at Durham University found close correlations between the facial features of Miss Lawson's father Nigel, the former chancellor of the exchequer, and her husband Charles Saatchi.

A similar pattern emerged in the central facial area, including nose, chin and eyes, of Ball's father Johnny and her husband Norman Cook, the DJ and musician known as Fatboy Slim.

The study by a team from Durham and two Polish academic institutions investigated evidence of "parental sexual imprinting" and used a sample of 49 eldest daughters aged 15 to 34.

Each was asked to select what she found the most attractive from photographs of 15 distinctive male faces that were tightly cropped to exclude ears, hair, neck, shoulders and clothing.

Facial measurements from the men were taken and compared with those of the women's father's measurements.

The daughters were also asked to rate their paternal relationships from birth to the age of seven, including how much their father engaged in bringing them up, how much leisure time he spent with them and the level of emotional investment from him.

Women who rated their childhood relationships highly were found to be more attracted to features similar to those or their father.

Those who regarded their fathers less favourably were more inclined to be turned off by similarities.

Dr Lynda Boothroyd, of Durham's department of psychology, said: "If fathers think that they look like the son-in-law they should take it as a compliment. These controlled results show for certain that the quality of a daughter's relationship with her father has an impact on whom she finds attractive.

"It shows our human brains don't simply build up prototypes of the ideal face based on those we see around us, rather they build them based on those to whom we have a strongly positive relationship."

People are known to be attracted through shared social and cultural attitudes which include physical elements such as clothes and haircuts.

Dr Boothroyd believes that the latest study, supported by the Economic and Social Research Council and The Royal Society, gives further insight into the complex issue of attraction in humans.

The report is due to be published in next month's issue of Evolution and Human Behaviour.


TOPICS: Science; Society
KEYWORDS:
O RLY?
1 posted on 06/13/2007 6:28:45 AM PDT by Daffynition
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To: rainbow sprinkles

As a little girl, I adored my father, who was a wonderful daddy. My husband of almost 27 years doesn’t look ANYTHING like him. The Freudian conclusions this “study” suggests are a little creepy, IMO.


2 posted on 06/13/2007 6:47:29 AM PDT by alwaysconservative (I am not loved by God because I am special: I am special because I am loved by God.)
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To: alwaysconservative
You can always bank on Freud.


3 posted on 06/13/2007 6:54:57 AM PDT by Daffynition (Don't treat me any differently than you would the Queen.)
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To: alwaysconservative

My husband, our son and our son-in-law all look remarkably similar.

Then, again, they all think our daughter/sister/wife is about the smartest woman they have ever known.

Nothing creepy, just kinda the way it is.


4 posted on 06/13/2007 6:56:09 AM PDT by trimom
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To: rainbow sprinkles

Hmmm, thinking. No,I was Daddy’s girl but none of my boyfriends or my ex resembled my dad in the least.
Maybe personality, some, but not at all in looks.


5 posted on 06/13/2007 9:40:32 AM PDT by Shimmer128 (30 degrees to 300 degrees in seconds.)
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To: Shimmer128
I'm more into people who look like their dogs. Remember these old pix?


6 posted on 06/13/2007 5:25:48 PM PDT by Daffynition (Don't treat me any differently than you would the Queen.)
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To: pissant; martin_fierro

What about those whose fathers are cross-dressers?


7 posted on 06/14/2007 10:49:29 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated June 8, 2007.)
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To: SunkenCiv

They grow up and vote Rudy.


8 posted on 06/15/2007 9:07:47 AM PDT by pissant
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To: pissant

HER BRA BELONGS TO DADDY
NY Post | 12-16-04 | richard johnson
Posted on 12/16/2004 6:43:15 PM EST by Rakkasan1
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1303035/posts


9 posted on 06/15/2007 9:19:21 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated June 8, 2007.)
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To: SunkenCiv

No wonder celebrities are all in rehab.


10 posted on 06/15/2007 9:22:22 AM PDT by pissant
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To: Daffynition

uhhh....nooooooooo

Not even close.


11 posted on 06/15/2007 9:33:27 AM PDT by Sue Perkick (And I hope that what I’ve done here today doesn’t force you to have a negative opinion of me….)
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To: Sue Perkick
I love these studies that paint with a broad brush. Actually, I didn’t think the comp photos at the source looked very similar to each other.
12 posted on 06/15/2007 10:23:25 AM PDT by Daffynition (Label Warning: Formerly known as "rainbow sprinkles")
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