Yes, Dogs Really
Do Resemble Their Owners
Strangers given separate photos of dogs and their owners are often
able to pair them, suggesting that people often do resemble their
canine companions, according to new study findings.
However, in the report, observers could
only match dogs to owners when the dogs were purebred, and they
were no better at pairing the photos if owners had had their dogs
for a long time. These findings suggest that people tend to
choose dogs that will resemble them, and the resemblance does not
develop over the course of the relationship, study author Michael
M. Roy told Reuters Health.
"When
someone buys a purebred pup, they can be fairly certain what the
dog will look like when it matures," he said. "Also, it is likely
that people who buy purebreds have spent more time deliberating
about what type of dog best suits them. "On a larger scale,
these findings reinforce the concept that like likes like, he
added. "When we seek a companion, whether it is human or not,
we are looking for someone or something similar to ourselves. It is
more that birds of a feather flock together than that opposites
attract".
Previous research has hinted that people
like dogs that resemble them. In one report, for instance,
investigators found that women with long hair tend to prefer dogs
with floppy ears to those with pricked ears.To investigate further,
Roy and his co-author Nicholas J. S. Christenfeld of the University
of California at San Diego separately photographed 45 dogs and
their owners. Twenty-five of the dogs were purebred. The
investigators then asked 28 people to look at photos of an owner
and two dogs, one of which belonged to the owner, and try to match
the owner to his/her real dog. Roy and Christenfeld found
that a majority of strangers paired 16 out of 25 purebred dogs with
their owners, but matched only 7 out of 20 non-purebred dogs, the
authors report in the journal Psychological Science. Roy explained
that people may choose dogs that look like them as a way to make
sure the animal will be compatible with their lifestyle.
"A pet is a big choice, an addition to the
family," he said. "You want something that will fit with your
personality and lifestyle. If you are very active and outgoing, you
want a dog that is active and outgoing. It may be that there are
visual clues that reflect this in both dog and
owner."
SOURCE: Psychological
Science, May 2004.
