Thinking you might be attracted to a body type like your mother or father might have you shaking your head. But, Elayne Savage, psychotherapist, told CNN, “When you grow up familiar with a certain type of person, you’re attracted to that same type of person because it feels comfortable, whether you like it or not.” Therefore, you feel like you have a cosmic connection or have known the person you choose as your partner forever. That feeling stems from the fact that they are similar to your parents.
Research published in 2003 in Evolution and Human Behavior found that one of the best predictors of your partner’s eye and hair color is the color of your opposite-sex parent’s coloring. The study went on to clarify the reasoning behind this phenomenon could be due to imprinting during infancy, which is the attachments you form with your parents that guide your identity.
This makes sense, according to Claudia Johnson, relationship, intimacy, and sex therapist. She told Cosmopolitan, “The nuclear family [is] your first point of contact when you’re developing and you’re recognizing what is healthy, what’s unhealthy, what feels good, what doesn’t feel good, what is safe versus what isn’t.” This type of imprinting can make its way into your sexual life, making you look for a partner who’s similar to that loving relationship you are used to.