The research, published in Biology Letters, says this is so because in the past our early ancestors assumed that they were related.

According to researchers, the belief goes back to when mirrors were nowhere present and people could learn what their kin looked like only by inspecting the faces of household members.

The study also found that people are more naturally drawn to people who looked like them than our own relatives – if the resemblance was too strong, reports The Telegraph.

To reach the conclusion, the researchers studied 70 identical adult twins who, although genetically the same had over the years grown to look different from each other.

Then they manipulated the photographs of the participants by digitally mixing them with a model’s face so that the images would either resemble them or their co-twin.

Then they asked each one who they would prefer to rescue from danger and which one they would prefer a different sex sibling to marry.

In each case, the person most resembling themselves was preferred almost two thirds of the time – significantly higher than being down to chance alone.