By Margaret Seide, MD. Reviewed by Rachel Goldman, PhD, FTOS
It isn’t necessarily fair, but there is a substantial body of research demonstrating that being perceived as beautiful or handsome offers some advantages. Physical attractiveness has important social consequences.
It may not be surprising that attractive individuals fare better in the world of dating. What you may not know is that beauty is also associated with more plentiful and more strongly bonded platonic relationships.
Beauty also correlates with upward economic mobility, especially for women. In mock interviews, those deemed to be attractive based on certain traits are significantly more likely to be hired for a position. This is true even when they have comparable education and experience to other applicants.
There seems to be an attractiveness stereotype. People perceived as beautiful are viewed as more competent, kinder, and in general as having more socially desirable traits than those considered less attractive. Good looks even influence our perception of the seriousness of committed crimes and that more attractive people pay lower bail, on average.
Where does our idea of beauty come from?
It is an understandably common misconception that our ideas of beauty come from cultural influences such as movies and magazines. Most of us believe that we are “taught” what is beautiful based on the images presented to us throughout our life.
If this were true, that would mean that what defines attractiveness would differ based on culture and era. It would also mean that babies should have very little context for beauty, and therefore not know what it is. None of that is true.
How Babies Perceive Beauty
It turns out that we are only partially influenced by culture and experience. Some human facial features seem to be universally and reliably appraised as attractive, and even babies will agree.
How can we measure what infants understand about beauty? We know that children stare at things that are interesting and appealing to them, such as bright contrasting colors.
In one study, infant’s preferences were calculated based on eye-tracking technology. The results indicate that babies between 12- and 24-months old display visual preferences for things such as facial symmetry and features that are typically associated with facial femininity, which may appear warmer and nurturing, or less threatening.
This point about infants is crucial in that babies have not yet been programmed by culture, advertisements, or celebrity images. It answers the question, how would someone perceive beauty if their brain were scrubbed of all the societal influences? Their visual attraction to certain facial characteristics represents a purer neurobiological response.
How is beauty defined?
The commonly used phrase ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ implies that visual beauty is this undefinable, mysterious thing. However, what we know to be true is that scientists have boiled down human facial attractiveness to a few key determinants and that there is a tight consensus across time, cultures, and ethnic backgrounds.
The basic technique used to determine this is having study participants review and give their impression of pictures of various faces. There is then an analysis of what attributes were common to the more favorably rated faces.
Researchers can also digitally manipulate features of the images and observe how that influences opinion. For example, making the jaw of a man squarer in an image and seeing how that influences response to the face.
Below are some of the characteristics and the evolutionary theory behind why those attributes may be sought after.
Symmetry
Symmetry refers to the extent to which one half of an object is the same as the other half. Our faces are not exactly the same on both halves. Symmetry is one of those qualities that consistently rates as desirable across cultures, and even across species when it comes to mate selection.
When images were manipulated in no other way than to make one side of a face more closely resemble the other side of the face, that dramatically increased the likelihood of that person being regarded as more attractive when compared to the unaltered image.
This may be related to the evolutionary drive to reproduce where symmetry represents good health, making them more desirable as potential mates. In men, a symmetrical body correlates to increased sperm count and sperm health. Breast symmetry in women is associated with increased fertility.
The Appearance of Health
Features that give an indication of health and vitality are prized and considered alluring. Skin condition is a particularly useful marker of current health status. This includes things such as skin color, tone, and texture.
- • Homogeneity of color: Evenness of skin tone can be a signal to our brains that someone is healthy and might be good mate material.
- • Smooth texture: Minimal blemishes and lines on a face can signify youthfulness and vitality. These qualities are felt to signify overall health. even when someone is shown a patch of skin without a full face.
- • Redness of cheeks and lips: Redness of cheeks and lips indicates more oxygenated blood, a signal of health and fitness. A pale or sallow complexion may indicate illness or a suboptimal metabolic picture and is perceived as less appealing.
Indicators of Personality
People were rated as more attractive when their features seemed to indicate socially valued traits such as kindness, contentedness, or cheerfulness.
Although facial expressions are transient indicators of personality, faces shown smiling are almost always rated as more beautiful than neutral faces. Particularly when combined with direct eye contact or when the smile is perceived as directed at the person rating the picture.
Secondary Sexual Characteristics
This refers to the qualities that are associated with how a face becomes more masculinized or feminized following puberty.
Typically, masculine features such as a square jaw, Adam’s apple, facial hair, and a prominent brow ridge are associated with dominance and handsomeness. The same is true of things such as fuller lips and higher or fuller cheeks in women.
Women with more feminized faces were found to have higher circulating estrogen, on average. Similarly, increased testosterone relates to more typically “manly” features. These outward indications of a person’s greater hormonal levels are valued in potential mates.
What features are women attracted to in their romantic partner? Well, it depends.
- • Masculine features: Square jaw and thicker brow were seen as more attractive for women who were already romantically partnered, who were around their time of ovulation (when women are most fertile), or in the context of short-term relationship seeking.
- • Feminine features: During other phases of the menstrual cycle, a more feminized version of a male face is preferred. Instead of dominance, feminine traits are associated with honesty, warmth, and being cooperative. In other words, features that wouldn’t necessarily be associated with fertility but with stable parenting.
Partner Status
It seems we find people more attractive if they are coupled with or being sought after by others, especially if the others in their orbit are also attractive.
- • Married: Research shows that men labeled as married were more alluring than men labeled as single.
- • Highly Desired: Women also rate men as more enticing when they are shown as surrounded by other women than when they are shown alone or with other men.
- • Previous Partner: People also perceive someone as more attractive, in part, if their prior romantic partner had features associated with the standard of beauty.
A Word From Verywell
Although this is what some of the latest research on beauty tells us, these studies cannot inform us of how beautiful it is to meaningfully bond with someone who is funny, intelligent, and thoughtful. Not everything can be measured. The loveliest of things are on the inside and unquantifiable.
source: verywellmind.com
