You’ve probably seen it before — two elderly people walking hand in hand down the street or sitting at a café, resembling each other so strongly that they could be siblings. Do these couples actually look alike, and if so, what’s caused them to develop this way?

A study published in the March 2006 issue of “Personality and Individual Differences” may have the answer. Twenty-two people, divided equally between male and female, participated in the study. They were asked to judge the looks, personalities and ages of 160 married couples. The participants viewed photographs of men and women separately and were not told who was married to whom.

The subjects consistently judged people who were married as being similar

The researchers also found that couples who had been together longer appeared more similar.

An old couple’s experiences
can be reflected in their faces,