Are You My Daddy? The Eyes Reveal It

A study carried out at the University of Tromso, Norway, found that blue-eyed men prefer women with blue eyes, whereas brown-eyed men and women with either eye color showed no such preference for eye color in their prospective romantic partners.

This could be tied in to the evolutionary laws of genetics for eye color; since blue eye color is a recessive trait to brown, a blue-eyed couple can only produce blue-eyed offspring, which helps reinforce the father's sense of paternity. If a child with brown eyes is born to a blue-eyed couple, there is no way that the blue-eyed father can be the biological father. On the other hand, a couple where both parents have brown eyes can produce either 75% brown-eyed children and 25% blue-eyed children or 100% brown-eyed children.

Eighty-eight male and female students were asked to rate facial attractiveness of models on a computer. The pictures were close-ups of young adult faces, unfamiliar to the participants. The eye color of each model was manipulated, so that for each model's face two versions were shown, one with the natural eye color (blue/brown) and another with the other color (brown/blue). The participants' own eye color was noted.

Both blue-eyed and brown-eyed women showed no difference in their preferences for male models of either eye color. Similarly, brown-eyed men showed no preference for either blue-eyed or brown-eyed female models. However, blue-eyed men rated blue-eyed female models as more attractive than brown-eyed models.

In a second study, a group of 443 young adults of both sexes and different eye colors were asked to report the eye color of their romantic partners. Blue-eyed men were the group with the largest proportion of partners of the same eye color.

Cited story.

Image source: Tom Robbrecht.

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If a child with brown eyes is born to a blue-eyed couple, there is no way that the blue-eyed father can be the biological father.

How about if the woman is sterile, so they get an egg donor, fertilize the egg with the man's sperm, and implant it in the woman?

By Mustafa Mond, FCD (not verified) on 12 Jan 2007 #permalink

Oh, and I am not your daddy.

By Mustafa Mond, FCD (not verified) on 12 Jan 2007 #permalink

Being blue-eyed myself, and since eye color is so often used as an example of genetics, I've often wondered why my eye color survived. This explains why we haven't vanished. Though I still don't understand how a big enough population with blue eyes got established in the first place.

By John McKay (not verified) on 12 Jan 2007 #permalink

It's actually not that necessary john - since it's recessive, you can be a carrier and not express it. There are millions of people with brown eyes who are blue-eye-gene carriers. Someone could be of a long brown eye lineage, then suddenly have a child with blue eyes (especially if their mate has blue eyes) - the recessive gene can just be passed down over and over and you'd never know.

The gene gets established the same way. The mutation happens in a small population - they procreate with brown eyed folk - but then all the offspring are blue eye gene carriers. It spreads that way, in fits and starts.

I suppose I should try to read the study; I kind of wonder how much of that is specific to Norway (maybe they're confusing cultural biases with genetic ones). Not that it matters much (anecdotes not being data and all), but I'm blue-eyed and nearly every girl I've been attracted to has been brown-eyed.

By david rickel (not verified) on 12 Jan 2007 #permalink

david-
were you attracted to them on sight only, or because of their personality? obviously our choices of mates are not solely based on eye color - we are complex creatures. in the study, they were just shown pictures and asked to rate their attractiveness. For all the test subjects know, the blue-eyed ones might be horrible personality matches.

I mean, most of the girls i've gone out with have been brunette or redhead, but that doesn't mean i find blondes unattractive in general - i've just not met many with compatible personalites. it's very possible that, just shown pictures not having ever gone out with any of them, i might rate a blonde higher than a brunette i liked much better.

I wouldn't make too much of the stated preference. I'm blue-eyed and blond, but all the women I've ever been attracted to were brown-eyed brunettes. (I have no idea why: it's just always been that way.)

I'd have guessed it's some Freudian thing (blue eyes of mom and all that) except that 1) brown-eyed men were indifferent, and 2) it's possible that *neither* genetic parent of a blue-eyed man has blue eyes (both having the blue recessive to the brown that is seen).

I'm *extremely* attracted to blue eyes and red hair (having shades of both myself), but on the other hand in school and early dating I'd had the worst luck with women of that type so I've ended up married to a brown-eyed brunette.

By Joe Shelby (not verified) on 12 Jan 2007 #permalink

Ok, folks, as a non-biologist, I hope this doesn't sound too silly, but.... Are blue eyes comparable to green eyes, as far as this research goes? Would hazel eye color be a shade of brown, or a shade of green/brown?

I have either stumped the blog with my insightful questions, or folks just threw up their hands and left the building in disgust....

WELL WHAT IF THE CHILD GOT LUCKY AND IT WAZ ITZ TRUE FATHER...(WE ARE NOT PERFECT) BUT I DO UNDERSTAND THAT IF BOTH HAVE BLUE EYES WHY WOULDNT THE CHILD....WELL MAYBE IT WAZ A FAULT IN THE DNA.....I DONT KNOW MAYBE....U NEVER KNOW...WELL IM ONLY 18 SO WHAT DO I KNOW..LOL

By LORD FAZE (not verified) on 14 Feb 2007 #permalink

Lord Faze, please turn caps lock off. It makes people think you are stupid.

what about green eyes? Do they have preferences? Do they discraminate against people or are they discriminated? No one seems to care about greenies and hazels.... (except Cathy ;)

By littlegreen (not verified) on 20 Feb 2007 #permalink

Actually, IIRC that blue=recessive, brown=dominant thing only applies to the commonest alleles for those colors, so there are certainly other possibilities. That said, if you've got one phenotype with lots of pigment, and one with little, the odds are pretty good that the darker trait represents a dominant.

By David Harmon (not verified) on 20 Feb 2007 #permalink

hahahahhahahhaahhaahahhahahahhhahahha aaa curse on you all

By jackthelad999 (not verified) on 14 Mar 2007 #permalink

bullshit its all bull, who gives a shit if you got blue eyes and your dads got fucking pink eyes i know i dont care!!!

By cunt- ucky fri… (not verified) on 19 Mar 2007 #permalink

what the heck? they base finding a birth father on the eye colour? its possible that 2 blue eyed people can have a brown eyed kid, jesus

By ???????????? (not verified) on 25 Mar 2007 #permalink

I agree, maybe they're confusing cultural biases with genetic ones.

Even if two blue-eyed parents can have a brown-eyed child, it isn't all that common, and as previously stated it is a recessive gene. This makes it unlikely, and hence still a good way to at least guess paternity.

My girlfriend has brown and blue eyes. Gray eyes is a big thing in her family. Most of her family members, the elders have gray eyes. Brown is dominate, but she does come from multiracial background. We looked up some stuff on her eyes. It said it was some sort of genetic mutation. We get a laugh out of that. I'm blue-eyed and eye color doesn't bother me at all.

ha sofiya

I have blue/green eyes. I know this may seem off topic, but I was wondering why my eyes change color so frequently. Some parts of the day my eyes seem a light green, but other times I have a deep blue. Is this some demented mutation, or is it normal?

PS- it does depend on what Im wearing. I have two pictures I took on two different days. one day I was weraing a blue sweaterand my eyes where u guessed it. Blue, and another I was wearing a red jacket and my eyes where light green.
does this have anything to do with it?

It isn't demented, don't worry. My eyes do the same thing, but they are brown and green. It just, like you said, depends on the light and what you are wearing. They call what your eyes and mine are 'hazel'. Generally hazel eyes have brown in them, but if your eyes change colour, they are considered hazel, anyway.

Hope that helped!

hmmm, well i have very blue eyes, and both my parents have brown eyes but I'm not adopted, also, 3 out of my 4 grandparents have blue eyes. So this just makes me wonder whether it could be recessive.

If a couple brown/brown (eyes that is) has a child with grey eyes what is the likelyhood of paternity? I've been told that all children are born with grey eyes and they could take up to a year to change. I'm just curious, if the child retains grey eyes what the chances are?