When two people spend enough time together, they often develop similar characteristics. The same seems to be true of people and their pets. It’s widely believed that everyone has a double out there somewhere. It may just be, though, that some people’s doubles have four legs.
Animal doppelgangers are a real thing, and there may be very good reasons why people look like their pets.
The Theory Behind Animal Look-Alikes
Many people joke about looking like their pets, but it turns out this may bear some truth. Sadahiko Nakajima is a psychologist who has dedicated his research to human and animal doppelgangers. His research has shown that people and their pets often resemble one another.
There are several theories about why this happens. The most widely accepted one is based on a psychological principle called the mere exposure effect. This principle states that people are most comfortable with familiar things, making it more likely for us to be drawn to furry faces that evoke a sense of familiarity. And, what is more familiar to us than our own faces?
Specifically, Nakajima was able to deduce that features surrounding the eyes were most likely to draw a person to a specific pet. If you take a close look at people and their animal doppelgangers, you will often find similarities in the eyes.
It has also been shown that people and their pets have similar personality profiles.
Our Favorite Animal Doppelgangers
It is easy to spend a lot of time exploring the results of a web search for “animal doppelgangers”. There are plenty of people who look a little too much like their pets, but some matches are more impressive than others. The internet is full of entertaining comparisons, some of the more noteworthy being:
- Elite Daily’s Pets That Look Exactly Like Their Owners
- Viral Nova’s Dog Owners Who Look Exactly Like Their Dogs
- Buzzfeed’s People Who Look Just Like Their Dogs
- Huffington Post’s Celebrities Who Look Like Their Dogs
The world of animal doppelgangers is a fascinating one. There is no shame in resembling a pet, though. Our pet patients at West Park Animal Hospital are some of the most adorable bundles of joy! So, if you happen to look like your four-legged family member, we don’t mind at all.
If you have an uncanny resemblance to your pet, please share a photo with us. We would love to see your animal doppelganger!
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