“Do People Look Like Their Dogs?”, 1999 (; similar):
One tenant of folk psychology is that people tend to select or form a preference for pet dogs that have a similar appearance to themselves.
A sample of 261 women judged the desirability of 4 breeds of dogs. 2 breeds had lopped ears (English Springer Spaniel, Beagle) and 2 had pricked ears (Siberian Husky, Basenji).
Long hairstyles in women produce a facial framing effect similar to lop ears while short or pulled back hairstyles produce a facial configuration more similar to prick-eared dogs. Consistent with this interpretation, women with long hair tended to prefer the lop-eared dogs while women with the short hairstyles preferred the prick-eared dogs, consistent with the folk belief.
These results are interpreted in light of social psychological principles, namely the effects of familiarity and mere exposure on affect and interpersonal attraction.
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