Dylan Sprouse and Barbara Palvin started dating in 2018 and the internet was quick to point out their similarities. Photo / Getty Images
Dylan Sprouse and Barbara Palvin started dating in 2018 and the internet was quick to point out their similarities. Photo / Getty Images
Do you often get told you and your partner look alike?
Don't worry, you're not alone.
In 1987, a study conducted by the University of Michigan stated married couples begin to look like each other after years of marriage but in 2020 it was debunked by Stanford University because many of the studied couples had similar facial features to begin with.
Despite this, there are so many couples who share similar facial features and body structures that the New York Post has revealed a name for the phenomenon: "doppelbangers".
Cosmopolitan reported the term originated in the LGBTQ community but has since become increasingly popular with heterosexual couples and it seems even celebrities are guilty of taking part in the trend.
In mid-2018 the internet was set alight when actor Dylan Sprouse started dating model Barbara Palvin and the reason wasn't that they were incredibly cute together. Many people took to Twitter saying she looks more like his twin than his actual twin.
Then, Kristen Stewart and fiancé Dylan Meyer came on the scene and between their blond hair and near-exact body type, the couple are the perfect definition of doppelbangers.
If you’re not sold on the fact that we like to date people who look similar, it turns out there are so many celebrity couples who look alike that the Daily Mail created a whole article on couples who could pass as siblings.
They featured the likes of Friends star Courteney Cox and partner Johnny McDaid, as well as Benedict Cumberbatch and Sophie Hunter and even Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, because the couples all share similar body types and facial features with their other half.
Courteney Cox and partner Johnny McDaid made it onto the Daily Mail's list of couples who share similar facial features. Photo / Getty Images
But the trend isn't observed only in celebrity culture, it is so common for everyday people that there is an entire Instagram page dedicated to figuring out if people who share similar features are in a relationship or siblings.
The account named "siblings or dating" has 1.3 million followers and tells people to "trust your gut" when it comes to guessing if each picture posted is of an intimate couple or siblings.
Followers take to the comment section to place their bet with some leaving behind light-hearted comments.
One said: "I thought they were siblings so naturally, that meant they're dating."
Another commented: "This is the first post that hasn't sent me into a rage for a long time."
According to researchers who worked on a German study in 2016, we can more easily recognise emotions in faces similar to our own, affording us a greater "neural vocabulary" with those who look like us. This level of understanding and connection feeds into a mutual attraction and, ultimately, the foundation of a pretty successful relationship.
At the crux of it, the principle is quite simple: if the face we’re engaging with feels and looks familiar, we can understand it more. When we correctly identify a person’s emotions, it triggers the brain’s reward system, positively reinforcing the interaction - a signal that we have synergy with the person we’re talking to. That they get us. That they might even like us back.
