Left: same-sex self-resembling faces, centre: original participants' faces, right: other-sex self-resembling faces.
Evolutionary theories predict that people should behave altruistically toward their genetic relatives, but avoid mating with them. How do people determine who is related enough to help and who is too closely related to mate with? In addition to other methods, people may use facial resemblance as a cue of kinship. My current research tests the predictions that facial resemblance will increase positive behaviour and attributions, but decrease sexual attractiveness.
In most of my studies, I utilize the technique of manipulating facial resemblance between experimental participants and pictured faces using computer morphing. In one study, people were found to be more likely to trust those who resemble them. When the pictured partner in an interactive investment game had been subtly manipulated to resemble the experimental participant, he or she was more likely to trust that partner. In another study, facial resemblance increased the attractiveness of and self-reported willingness to invest in pictured children. Additionally, same-sex faces manipulated to resemble the viewer were judged more attractive by the viewer than by others, but this effect was much smaller for other-sex faces. Finally, self-resemblance increased attributions of trustworthiness, which has implications for inbreeding avoidance because the other-sex self-resembling images that were judged more trustworthy were also judged less attractive for romantic relationships.
My research addresses a range of psychological mechanisms that could be responsible for these findings, such as general preferences for familiarity and averageness. Due to the context-specific effects of facial resemblance whereby it both increased preferences in prosocial contexts and did not affect or decreased preferences in mating contexts, these findings support the existence of specialized kin recognition mechanisms for responding to facial resemblance.
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