The Definitive Book of Body Language

The Definitive Book of Body Language

When Men and Women Start to Look Alike

When two people live together for a long time and have a good

working relationship, they often begin to look alike. This is

because they are constantly mirroring each other's facial

expressions, which, over time, builds muscle definition in the

same areas of the face. Even couples who don't look facially

similar can appear similar in a photograph because they use

the same smile.

The Beckhams don't look at

all alike until they smile

Forty years of mirroring -

the Beckhams at retirement

with their dog, Spot

In 2000, psychologist Dr John Gottman of the University of

Washington, Seattle, and his colleagues, discovered that mar-

riages are more likely to fail when one partner not only does

not mirror the other's expressions of happiness, but instead

shows expressions of contempt. Instead, this opposite behav-

iour affects the smiling partner, even when they are not

consciously aware of what is happening.

Do We Resemble Our Pets?

You can also see mirroring occur in the pets some people choose.
Without realising it, we unconsciously tend to favour pets that