Biological Bases of Beauty Revisited: The Effect of Symmetry, Averageness, and Sexual Dimorphism on Female Facial Attractiveness

Jones, Alex L.; Jaeger, Bastian

doi:10.3390/sym11020279

Cited by 92 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 125 publications

(206 reference statements)

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“…Our finding that facial measurements do not change across the menstrual cycle suggests that the previously found cyclical changes in attractiveness judgements [7,61] were probably not based on these three facial shape features. Another recent study also has failed to support an association between symmetry, sexual dimorphism and facial attractiveness [30]. It is possible that women in their most fertile phase exhibit a more attractive skin tone, which translates into heightened perceptions of attractiveness and femininity [62].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability of women's facial shape throughout the menstrual cycle

Marcinkowska

Holzleitner

2020

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Facial characteristics can serve as a cue for judgements of multiple human traits, from maternal tendencies, overall fertility to sexual openness. In this study, we tested previously found fluctuations in facial shape throughout the menstrual cycle. With methods more robust than those formerly used (larger sample size and detailed hormonal assessments determining the timing of the ovulation), we did not find significant changes in either of the three facial measurements conducted: symmetry, averageness and sexual dimorphism (all F ≤ 0.78, all partial η 2 ≤ 0.01, all p ≥ 0.542). After narrowing the sample to cycles that had a higher probability of being ovulatory (based on daily measurements of luteinizing hormone and oestradiol), the results remained non-significant (all F ≤ 1.20, all partial η 2 ≤ 0.03, all p ≥ 0.315). Our results (i) suggest that the previously found increased facial attractiveness of women in the most fertile phase of the menstrual cycle is not driven by changes in facial shape, but might instead stem from other changes in facial appearance, such as a more attractive skin tone; and (ii) underline the importance of replication of studies with new methods.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stability of women's facial shape throughout the menstrual cycle

Marcinkowska

Holzleitner

2020

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…We used this paradigm in our study because it was the same as that used in the study by Glassenberg et al [ 8 ] that we were attempting to (and successfully did) replicate. However, some recent research suggests that forced-choice paradigms can produce qualitatively different patterns of results than other methods for assessing preferences for sexually dimorphism face-shape characteristics [ 19 ]. Establishing the extent to which the effects of sexual orientation on face preferences that we observed in the current study and that were also observed by Glassenberg et al [ 8 ] generalize to other methods for assessing face preferences would be an important direction for future research.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual orientation predicts men’s preferences for sexually dimorphic face-shape characteristics: A replication study

et al. 2020

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Many researchers have proposed that straight men prefer women’s faces displaying feminine shape characteristics at least partly because mating with such women will produce healthier offspring. Although a prediction of this adaptation-for-mate-choice hypothesis is that straight men will show stronger preferences for feminized versus masculinized versions of women’s faces than will gay men, only one previous study has directly tested this prediction. Here we directly replicated that study by comparing 623 gay and 3163 straight men’s preferences for feminized versus masculinized versions of faces. Consistent with the adaptation-for-mate-choice hypothesis of straight men’s femininity preferences, we found that straight men showed significantly stronger preferences for feminized female faces than did gay men. Consistent with previous research suggesting that gay men place a premium on masculinity in potential romantic partners, we also found that gay men showed significantly stronger preferences for masculinized versions of male faces than did straight men. Together, these findings indicate the sexual orientation contributes to individual differences in men’s face preferences.

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“…Facial distinctiveness. Also following Jones and Jaeger (2019) and Komori et al (2009), distinctiveness of face shape was measured in the following steps. First, the vector representation of all faces of the same sex were averaged to produce an average male and female vector.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facial metrics generated from manually and automatically placed image landmarks are highly correlated

Jones

Schild

Jones

2021

Evolution and Human Behavior

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Research on social judgments of faces often investigates relationships between measures of face shape taken from images (facial metrics), and either perceptual ratings of the faces on various traits (e.g., attractiveness) or characteristics of the photographed individual (e.g., their health). A barrier to carrying out this research using large numbers of face images is the time it takes to manually position the landmarks from which these facial metrics are derived. Although research in face recognition has led to the development of algorithms that can automatically position landmarks on face images, the utility of such methods for deriving facial metrics commonly used in research on social judgments of faces has not yet been established. Thus, across two studies, we investigated the correlations between four facial metrics commonly used in social perception research (sexual dimorphism, distinctiveness, bilateral asymmetry, and facial width to height ratio) when measured from manually and automatically placed landmarks. In the first study, in two independent sets of open access face images, we found that facial metrics derived from manually and automatically placed landmarks were typically highly correlated, in both raw and Procrustes-fitted representations. In study two, we investigated the potential for automatic landmark placement to differ between White and East Asian faces. We found that two metrics, facial width to height ratio and sexual dimorphism, were better approximated by automatic landmarks in East Asian faces. However, this difference was small, and easily corrected with outlier detection. These data validate the use of automatically placed landmarks for calculating facial metrics to use in VALIDATING AUTOMATIC FACIAL LANDMARKS 3 research on social judgments of faces, but we urge caution in their use. We also provide a tutorial for the automatic placement of landmarks on face images.

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Biological Bases of Beauty Revisited: The Effect of Symmetry, Averageness, and Sexual Dimorphism on Female Facial Attractiveness

Cited by 92 publications

References 125 publications

Stability of women's facial shape throughout the menstrual cycle

Stability of women's facial shape throughout the menstrual cycle

Sexual orientation predicts men’s preferences for sexually dimorphic face-shape characteristics: A replication study

Facial metrics generated from manually and automatically placed image landmarks are highly correlated

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