Monday, March 9, 2009

The more someone looks like us the more likely we are to help them

We feel more altruistic to those who resemble us because in the past our early ancestors assumed that they were related, according to a new study. The instinct dates back to when there were no mirrors and people could learn what their kin looked like only by inspecting the faces of household members. The study, published in Biology Letters, even found that we were more naturally drawn to people who looked like us than our own relatives, if the resemblance was strong enough.

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