Exploring some aspects that drive the global perception of the facial appearance of young Caucasian adult men by a panel of Caucasian women of same ages

Abstract

Objective: To decipher, through different wordings, the perception of adult men faces by “naïve” panels of women, through two different photographic modes (standard & natural) and its possible link with some objective/instrumental assessments. Methods: The full faces of 118 men (aged 30–45y) were photographed under a standardized mode (hiding hairs and upper garments) and under a natural look, showing hairstyles and upper garments. 40 of these men were bearded and were photographed (standardized mode) pre and post shaving. 260 “naïve” women of same age-range, divided in three groups, were asked to express their feelings about the psycho-social attributes of these 118 men and their hedonistic appreciation through spontaneous verbatims. A quiz part, using fixed wordings, graded through a 0–10 scale, allowed to confer “quantitative” assessments on the various psycho social and the perceived behavior of these men. These gradings were analyzed through Principal Component Analysis (PCA).The facial skin of the 118 men was clinically assessed and instrumentally investigated, focusing on wrinkles/folds, sagging/ptosis, color, hydration and plumpness/water mobility. Results: A Hierarchical Cluster Analysis allowed to distinct two different clustering on the psycho-social perceptions according to the photographic mode (8 in standard and 6 in natural conditions), based on the different frequencies of the quoted verbatims. Shaving the beard led to many individual shifts (of various amplitudes) within both psycho-social and behavioral appreciations. When shaved, these 40 men were globally seen as more “neat”, more intellectual and younger by about one year. However, shaving does not lead to clear shift within the psycho-social clusters. Men of some clusters defined on natural pictures have been found significantly different from others based on several objective parameters. Conclusion: The facial appearance of Caucasian men by Caucasian women is strongly driven by cultural, behavioral or social perceptions and less by men’s facial signs and skin properties. These appear much influenced by the visions of hair or garments, as well as presence of a beard.