--- title: How Your Parents’ Appearance Affects Who You Marry description: Men are more likely to date women with the same eye color as their mom. Women are more likely to date men with the same... canonical: https://time.com/3842540/parents-appearance-marriage-partner/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-04T04:01:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:49:38.913Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How Your Parents’ Appearance Affects Who You Marry og:description: Family matters more than you think og:url: https://time.com/3842540/parents-appearance-marriage-partner/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c332653f982e8f0/6987edd5cd6848a11d09dcea/475171529-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=338&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 338 og:image:height: 190 og:image:alt: father-child-holding-hands og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Your Parents’ Appearance Affects Who You Marry twitter:description: Family matters more than you think twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c332653f982e8f0/6987edd5cd6848a11d09dcea/475171529-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=338&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Your Parents’ Appearance Affects Who You Marry > Sponsored content. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker May 4, 2015 4:01 AM UTC  Father holding child's hand Father holding child's hand Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker May 4, 2015 4:01 AM UTC Men are more likely to date women with the same eye color as their mom. Women are more likely to date men with the same eye color as their father. Via [In Your Face: The New Science of Human Attraction](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0230201296/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0230201296): --- > “” --- Men are also more likely to date women with the same hair color as their mother. --- > “” --- Interestingly, women are more likely to be attracted to men who look like dad _– only if they had a good relationship with their father._ --- > “” --- Looking at photos, research subjects were able to tell (at a rate above chance) who was married to whom by looking for a resemblance between the bride and the groom’s mother, or between the groom and bride’s father. --- > “” --- **Join over 151,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/04/how-does-your-parents-appearance-affect-who-y/)**_._** Related posts: [10 things you need to know about attraction](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-attraction) [An easy way for women to be more attractive to men and men to be more attractive to women](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/an-easy-way-for-women-to-be-more-attractive-t) [What physical characteristics are attractive in men and women?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-physical-characteristics-are-attractive) ### Photographing a Kiss: Long Time Love Affairs  Joseph and Dorothy Bolotin Sharon, Pennsylvania Married on June 16, 1938\. Dorothy, "I never think of it in terms of years. I think of it in terms of good years. In love, hot romance doesn’t last forever. So I would say that yes, I think love changes. I would say we’re still in love. It’s focusing, doing little things. He’s an amazing man." Lauren Fleishman  John and Sherma Campbell Star Valley, Wyoming Married on May 13, 1955\. Sherma, "When you start out, you think you love each other as much as you possibly can,but love grows—just like your inner self grows as time goes by and you have experiences.And now at this stage of the game, I love him even more. I can’t even imagine life without him." Lauren Fleishman  Jin Lin and Lai Mei Chen Brooklyn, New York Married on February 4, 1961\. Jin Lin, "We had so many things in common it was like our hearts were the same." Lauren Fleishman  de'Spagnolis Aldo de’Spagnolis and Maria Filiozzi Itri, Italy Married on October 23, 1949\. Aldo, "When I first saw her, she was 14 and I was 22.Was there a concern that she was too young for me? No! Even now I look like a young child! Yes, even now I’m still young." Lauren Fleishman  Jake and Mary Jacobs Solihull, England Married on April 27, 1948\. Mary,"Jake said to me,'Would it ever be possible for me to marry you?' And I said,'Possible but not probable!' And that’s how it was. It wasn’t likely that I would ever marry him, and he knew that. So when he went home to Trinidad, my mother and father breathed a sigh of relief. But he used to write, and he said, 'I’m thinking I might come back to England.'" Lauren Fleishman  Kissin Yevgeniy and Lyubov Kissin Brooklyn, New York Married on June 29, 1941\. Yevgeniy, "We met at a dancing party. It was in January 1938\. My friend invited me to the party, he said there would be a lot of beautiful young girls. Another cadet with high boots had approached her, but she didn’t like high boots and so she said no to him. I was the second one to approach her. I had a different uniform, but I’m still not sure if it was my uniform or my face that attracted her to me." Lauren Fleishman  Itig and Golda Pollac Brooklyn, New York Married on August 13, 1946\. Golda, "I would say love came little by little. Not right away.We were young.And he was older, but I liked him. He spoke to me in a very nice way." Lauren Fleishman  Yaakov and Mariya Shapirshetyn Brooklyn, New York Married on July 6, 1949\. Yaakov, "What is the secret to love? A secret is a secret, and I don’t reveal my secrets." Lauren Fleishman  Gino and Angie Terranova Staten Island. New York Married on September 27, 1947\. Angie, "You really don’t think about getting older. First of all, you’re aging together, and when you see a person constantly,you don’t notice big changes. Like you don’t notice, oh you’re getting a little wrinkle here and tomorrow you say it’s a little deeper. No, those are things that just happen." 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