Perceived Health Contributes to the Attractiveness of Facial Symmetry, Averageness, and Sexual Dimorphism

Abstract

Symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism (femininity in female faces, masculinity in male faces) are attractive in faces. Many have suggested that preferences for these traits may be adaptations for identifying healthy mates. If they are, then the traits should be honest indicators of health and their attractiveness should result from their healthy appearance. Much research has focused on whether these traits honestly signal health. Here we focused on whether the appeal of these traits results from their healthy appearance. Specifically, we tested whether the attractiveness of symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism is reduced or eliminated when perceived health is controlled, in two large samples of Western faces and a large sample of Japanese faces. The appeal of symmetric faces was largely due to their healthy appearance, with most associations between symmetry and attractiveness eliminated when perceived health was controlled. A healthy appearance also contributed to the appeal of averageness and femininity in female faces and masculinity in male faces, although it did not fully explain their appeal. These results show that perceptions of attractiveness are sensitive to a healthy appearance, and are consistent with the hypothesis that preferences may be adaptations for mate choice.

Women’s Preferences for Men’s Facial Masculinity: Trade-Off Accounts Revisited

“…clearly above zero. This is in line with findings from previous studies that have reported a general preference for masculinity/masculine traits (Cunningham et al 1990;Gillen 1981;Grammer and Thornhill 1994;Koehler et al 2004;Neave et al 2003;Rhodes et al 2003Rhodes et al , 2007Saxton et al 2009;Scheib et al 1999), but in contrast to other studies which reported that overall, women prefer a close to average or slightly feminine male face shape (Little et al 2001;Penton-Voak et al 2004, 2003Perrett et al 1998;Rhodes et al 2000;Scott et al 2010). Our results might differ from these latter findings because we used an asymmetric range of masculinity (−100% to +200%).…”

Perception of health from facial cues

“…Health judgements have been shown to influence judgements of both attractiveness and leadership ability [3,4]; so if you have a picture on an online dating site or a professional network profile you may wish to update it in light of our findings. An image with a healthy skin tone and a positive expression could improve your chances of love and success.…”

“…2 Actual BMI was also found to predict perceived health through linear and squared terms, although the relationship was mediated by face BMI scores. 3 …”

“…0.127). 3 In a two-step linear regression, actual BMI explained 10.7% of variance in perceived health through linear (b ¼ 2.34, p ¼ 0.004) and squared terms (b ¼ 22.57, p ¼ 0.002). The addition of face BMI scores at step two significantly improved the model (R 2 change ¼ 0.16, p , 0.001).…”

“…Understanding how these judgements are informed is important because they feed into other social judgements such as attractiveness [1][2][3] or leadership ability [4], which is potentially consequential in terms of real-life outcomes, such as dating and or employment outcomes. Other social consequences may stem directly from judgements of health because maintaining a physical distance from those who are perceived to be unhealthy has clear evolutionary benefits through avoidance of contagious disease.…”