Proc. R. Soc. B doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.1021 (2008)

The suggestion that people seek mates that resemble their parents is as old as civilization. Tamas Bereczkei and his colleagues at the University of Pécs in Hungary have found new evidence linking partner choices to parental appearance.

By measuring 14 facial proportions of 312 adults from 52 families, Bereczkei's team shows significant correlations in appearance between young men and their partner's father and young women and their partner's mother. This supports the theory that children are imprinted with their opposite-sex parent's face.