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Dissociating averageness and attractiveness: attractive faces are not always average
Lisa M DeBruine1, Benedict C Jones, Layla Unger
1School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. l.debruine@abdn.ac.uk
Journal of Experimental Psychology. Human Perception and Performance
|December 19, 2007
Summary
Facial attractiveness is not solely based on averageness. Studies show specific non-average facial features can be highly attractive, challenging the traditional averageness hypothesis.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Perception
- Human appearance
Background:
- The averageness hypothesis suggests facial attractiveness correlates with how close a face is to the average.
- Previous research indicates caricaturing attractive faces can increase their attractiveness, contradicting simple averageness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically test the averageness hypothesis against a contrast hypothesis of facial attractiveness.
- To investigate whether attractiveness depends on proximity to average or position relative to average in "face space".
Main Methods:
- Conducted 5 experiments using rating and visual adaptation paradigms.
- Visual adaptation was employed to assess changes in perceived attractiveness and normality.
- Tested predictions of both the averageness and contrast hypotheses.
Main Results:
- Visual adaptation affected judgments of normality as expected, increasing perceived averageness.
- Judgments of attractiveness showed a different pattern than normality judgments after adaptation.
- Results indicate that non-average facial characteristics can be particularly attractive.
Conclusions:
- The findings provide strong support against the simple averageness hypothesis of facial attractiveness.
- Specific non-average facial traits are attractive, suggesting a more complex model of facial preference.
- Implications for interpreting visual adaptation studies on facial attractiveness are discussed.
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