scholarly journals Cues for facial attractiveness and preference of sexual dimorphism: A comparison across five cultures

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vojtěch Fiala ◽  
Vít Třebický ◽  
Juan David Leongómez ◽  
Petr Tureček ◽  
Farid Pazhoohi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Wealth Distribution ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
Facial Cues ◽  
Facial Stimuli ◽  
Sexual Shape Dimorphism ◽  
Facial Images ◽  
Strength Of Association ◽  
Adaptive Pattern

It has been hypothesised that the strength of association between sex typicality and attractiveness follows an adaptive pattern across cultures. Such pattern allows for adjustment of individual preferences for facial cues associated with direct (parenting) and indirect (biological quality) benefits from mating with a potential mate according to environmental conditions. To test this hypothesis, we examined associations among intra-culturally perceived sex typicality, attractiveness, measured skin lightness, measured averageness, and sexual dimorphism of shape from facial images, while controlling for age, body mass, and facial width, in five distinct cultures with different environmental and socioeconomic conditions (Cameroon, N of facial stimuli = 200, 100 women; Colombia, N = 138, 66 women; Czechia, N = 100, 50 women; Iran, N = 87, 43 women; and Turkey, N = 185, 93 women). Our results suggest that measured sexual shape dimorphism and averageness are not significantly associated with neither perceived sex typicality nor attractiveness across the cultures. In all samples of female faces, however, perceived sex typicality was positively related to facial attractiveness. Women found perceived sex typicality in men as more attractive only in the Czech environment, with its relatively abundant resources, and in Colombia, which is a highly socioeconomically heterogeneous and competitive culture. Lighter skin raised the ratings of both attractiveness and sex typicality only in Cameroonian women. Darker men were perceived significantly more sex-typical but not more attractive in Cameroonian, Colombian, and Iranian samples. Altogether, our results highlight the need to control for which measure of sexual dimorphism is used (perceived or measured) and make a detailed description of the local environment. It is the perceived, rather than measured, sexual dimorphism that is associated with perceived attractiveness, and wealth distribution, rather than public, health that seems to affect masculinity preferences.

scholarly journals Non-Pregnant and Pregnant Women’s Femininity Preferences in Male Faces: Tests Based on Within- and Between-Sex Sexual Dimorphism Facial Manipulations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fangfang Wen ◽  
Bin Zuo ◽  
Yang Wang ◽  
Shuhan Ma ◽  
Shijie Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Chinese Women ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Facial Stimulus ◽  
Facial Cues ◽  
Facial Masculinity ◽  
Facial Stimuli ◽  
Pregnancy Status ◽  
Face Stimuli ◽  
Women’S Preferences

AbstractPast research on women’s preferences for male facial masculinity in Western cultures has produced inconsistent results. Some inconsistency may be related to the use of different facial stimulus manipulations (e.g., between-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation or within-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation) that do not perfectly avoid non-facial cues, and pregnancy status may also influence women’s face preferences. We therefore recruited pregnant and nonpregnant Chinese women and manipulated the sexual dimorphism of male facial stimuli to explore the influences of manipulation methods, non-facial cues, and pregnancy status on face preferences. Results showed that: (1) in contrast with a general masculinity preference observed in Western cultures, both pregnant and nonpregnant Chinese women preferred feminized and neutral male faces generally; (2) pregnant women’s preference for feminized male faces was stable across manipulation methods, while nonpregnant women preferred feminized male faces except under between-sex sexual dimorphism manipulation; and (3) manipulation methods, rather than non-facial cues, influenced participants’ face preferences. Specifically, women showed the strongest preferences for femininity when face stimuli were manipulated by within-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation, followed by unmanipulated faces and between-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation. This effect was stronger for nonpregnant women in the unmanipulated condition and for pregnant women in the between-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation. This research provides empirical evidence of women’s preferences for sexual dimorphism in male faces in a non-Western culture, as well as the effects of facial manipulation methods, pregnancy status, and the interactions between these factors.

scholarly journals A new data-driven mathematical model dissociates attractiveness from sexual dimorphism of human faces

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Koyo Nakamura ◽  
Katsumi Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
Influential Factor ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
True Preference ◽  
Facial Stimuli ◽  
Positive Correlations ◽  
Human Faces ◽  
Perceived Attractiveness

Abstract Human facial attractiveness is evaluated by using multiple cues. Among others, sexual dimorphism (i.e. masculinity for male faces/femininity for female faces) is an influential factor of perceived attractiveness. Since facial attractiveness is judged by incorporating sexually dimorphic traits as well as other cues, it is theoretically possible to dissociate sexual dimorphism from facial attractiveness. This study tested this by using a data-driven mathematical modelling approach. We first analysed the correlation between perceived masculinity/femininity and attractiveness ratings for 400 computer-generated male and female faces (Experiment 1) and found positive correlations between perceived femininity and attractiveness for both male and female faces. Using these results, we manipulated a set of faces along the attractiveness dimension while controlling for sexual dimorphism by orthogonalisation with data-driven mathematical models (Experiment 2). Our results revealed that perceived attractiveness and sexual dimorphism are dissociable, suggesting that there are as yet unidentified facial cues other than sexual dimorphism that contribute to facial attractiveness. Future studies can investigate the true preference of sexual dimorphism or the genuine effects of attractiveness by using well-controlled facial stimuli like those that this study generated. The findings will be of benefit to the further understanding of what makes a face attractive.

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

Symmetry ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex L. Jones ◽  
Bastian Jaeger
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Learning Algorithm ◽  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
Choice Task ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Human Female ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Skin Texture ◽  
Femininity And Masculinity ◽  
Forced Choice Task

The factors influencing human female facial attractiveness—symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism—have been extensively studied. However, recent studies, using improved methodologies, have called into question their evolutionary utility and links with life history. The current studies use a range of approaches to quantify how important these factors actually are in perceiving attractiveness, through the use of novel statistical analyses and by addressing methodological weaknesses in the literature. Study One examines how manipulations of symmetry, averageness, femininity, and masculinity affect attractiveness using a two-alternative forced choice task, finding that increased masculinity and also femininity decrease attractiveness, compared to unmanipulated faces. Symmetry and averageness yielded a small and large effect, respectively. Study Two utilises a naturalistic ratings paradigm, finding similar effects of averageness and masculinity as Study One but no effects of symmetry and femininity on attractiveness. Study Three applies geometric face measurements of the factors and a random forest machine learning algorithm to predict perceived attractiveness, finding that shape averageness, dimorphism, and skin texture symmetry are useful features capable of relatively accurate predictions, while shape symmetry is uninformative. However, the factors do not explain as much variance in attractiveness as the literature suggests. The implications for future research on attractiveness are discussed.

scholarly journals Symmetry, sexual dimorphism in facial proportions and male facial attractiveness

2001 ◽  
Vol 268 (1476) ◽  
pp. 1617-1623 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. S. Penton-Voak ◽  
B. C. Jones ◽  
A. C. Little ◽  
S. Baker ◽  
B. Tiddeman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
Facial Proportions

Rating Nasolabial Aesthetics in Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate Patients

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 747-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roderic M. F. Schwirtz ◽  
Frans J. Mulder ◽  
David G. M. Mosmuller ◽  
Robin A. Tan ◽  
Thomas J. Maal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cleft Lip ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Cleft Lip And Palate ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
Facial Trauma ◽  
Face Images ◽  
History Of ◽  
Full Face ◽  
Facial Images

Objective: To determine if cropping facial images affects nasolabial aesthetics assessments in unilateral cleft lip patients and to evaluate the effect of facial attractiveness on nasolabial evaluation. Design: Two cleft surgeons and one cleft orthodontist assessed standardized frontal photographs 4 times; nasolabial aesthetics were rated on cropped and full-face images using the Cleft Aesthetic Rating Scale, and total facial attractiveness was rated on full-face images with and without the nasolabial area blurred using a 5-point Likert scale. Setting: Cleft Palate Craniofacial Unit of a University Medical Center. Patients: Inclusion criteria: nonsyndromic unilateral cleft lip and an available frontal view photograph around 10 years of age. Exclusion criteria: a history of facial trauma and an incomplete cleft. Eighty-one photographs were available for assessment. Main Outcome Measures: Differences in mean CARS scores between cropped versus full-face photographs and attractive versus unattractive rated patients were evaluated by paired t test. Results: Nasolabial aesthetics are scored more negatively on full-face photographs compared to cropped photographs, regardless of facial attractiveness. (Mean CARS score, nose: cropped = 2.8, full-face = 3.0, P < .001; lip: cropped = 2.4, full-face = 2.7, P < .001; nose and lip: cropped = 2.6, full-face = 2.8, P < .001). Conclusion: Aesthetic outcomes of the nasolabial area are assessed significantly more positively when using cropped images compared to full-face images. For this reason, cropping images, revealing the nasolabial area only, is recommended for aesthetical assessments.

Skull morphological variation in a British stranded population of false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens): a three-dimensional geometric morphometric approach

2022 ◽  
pp. 119-132
Author(s):  
Deborah Vicari ◽  
Richard C. Sabin ◽  
Richard P. Brown ◽  
Olivier Lambert ◽  
Giovanni Bianucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Killer Whale ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Anatomical Landmarks ◽  
Geometric Morphometric ◽  
False Killer Whale ◽  
Sexual Shape Dimorphism ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Pseudorca Crassidens

The false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens (Owen, 1846)) is a globally distributed delphinid that shows geographical differentiation in its skull morphology. We explored cranial morphological variation in a sample of 85 skulls belonging to a mixed sex population stranded in the Moray Firth, Scotland, in 1927. A three-dimensional digitizer (Microscribe 2GX) was used to record 37 anatomical landmarks on the cranium and 25 on the mandible to investigate size and shape variation and to explore sexual dimorphism using geometric morphometric. Males showed greater overall skull size than females, whereas no sexual dimorphism could be identified in cranial and mandibular shape. Allometric skull changes occurred in parallel for both males and females, supporting the lack of sexual shape dimorphism for this particular sample. Also, fluctuating asymmetry did not differ between crania of males and females. This study confirms the absence of sexual shape dimorphism and the presence of a sexual size dimorphism in this false killer whale population.

scholarly journals Fruit over sunbed: Carotenoid skin colouration is found more attractive than melanin colouration

2015 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen E. Lefevre ◽  
David I. Perrett
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
The Other ◽  
Signalling System ◽  
Facial Stimuli ◽  
Masculine Trait ◽  
The Face ◽  
Typical Skin

Skin colouration appears to play a pivotal part in facial attractiveness. Skin yellowness contributes to an attractive appearance and is influenced both by dietary carotenoids and by melanin. While both increased carotenoid colouration and increased melanin colouration enhance apparent health in Caucasian faces by increasing skin yellowness, it remains unclear, firstly, whether both pigments contribute to attractiveness judgements, secondly, whether one pigment is clearly preferred over the other, and thirdly, whether these effects depend on the sex of the face. Here, in three studies, we examine these questions using controlled facial stimuli transformed to be either high or low in (a) carotenoid colouration, or (b) melanin colouration. We show, firstly, that both increased carotenoid colouration and increased melanin colouration are found attractive compared to lower levels of these pigments. Secondly, we show that carotenoid colouration is consistently preferred over melanin colouration when levels of colouration are matched. In addition, we find an effect of the sex of stimuli with stronger preferences for carotenoids over melanin in female compared to male faces, irrespective of the sex of the observer. These results are interpreted as reflecting preferences for sex-typical skin colouration: men have darker skin than women and high melanization in male faces may further enhance this masculine trait, thus carotenoid colouration is not less desirable, but melanin colouration is relatively more desirable in males compared to females. Taken together, our findings provide further support for a carotenoid-linked health-signalling system that is highly important in mate choice.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document