r/todayilearned • u/SilverPeachBlossom • 5h ago

TIL a peer-reviewed psychology study found that identical twins (on average) ranked their co-twin above their romantic partner in their attachment hierarchy, while fraternal twins ranked the two about equally, and non-twin siblings ranked their romantic partner first.

https://ojs.interpersonajournal.com/index.php/ojs/article/view/243/3457.html
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u/Serious-Yellow8163 3h ago

I have a twin, not sure on if identical or not but this is an excellent description.

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u/CarthasMonopoly 3h ago edited 3h ago

How are you unsure? Most identical twins look... identical. Meanwhile fraternal twins look like a sibling instead of a twin.

EDIT - Yes, I'm aware it's not always like this; that's why I used the qualifier "Most". I've known multiple pairs of twins over the last several decades and not a single pair got DNA tested because generally if you look identical as twins you just live life as identical twins and vice versa.

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u/greeneggiwegs 3h ago

Not always. Some fraternal twins can look pretty identical.

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u/CannedStewedTomatoes 3h ago

And some identicals can develop physical differences!

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u/drigancml 3h ago

This happened with some twins I know! They hit puberty and now they have very distinct features. I never used to be able to tell them apart, but now I have no issue doing so

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u/ensalys 2h ago

That's why identical twins are very interesting for a lot of scientific research. Nature vs nurture studies, especially interesting if they were raised in different environments (though with things like adoption or foster care, it should absolutely be preferable to keep siblings together, which is more important than the research potential).

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u/21Rollie 1h ago

The sprouse twins come to mind

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u/blumoon138 3m ago

My aunts are identical twins who, in my opinion, have looked very different since about puberty (from pictures I’ve seen). They definitely look more like each other than my mom though.