Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 16, 2025

Conscious and Non-conscious Representations of Emotional Faces in Asperger's Syndrome
Published on: July 31, 2016
Facial attraction: an exploratory study of the judgements made by people with intellectual disabilities
M Donnachie1, B Jones2, A Jahoda1
1Institute of Health and Wellbeing, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
Background:
Although romantic or sexual attraction is a major research topic in the general population, little is known about people with intellectual disabilities' (ID) views of attractiveness.
Methods:
Fifty-eight participants (16-40 years) took part in this exploratory study, 29 with ID and 29 without ID. Participants were shown 50 images of men or women's faces and asked to rate how attractive they thought the faces were.
Results:
A strong association was found between what men and women with ID and those without ID considered attractive in romantic partners. However, people with ID were more likely to consider themselves desirable to others.
Conclusions:
The findings suggest that people with mild ID make the same subtle judgements about facial attraction as other individuals.
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Factors Influencing Attraction II: Physical Attraction
Facial Feedback Hypothesis
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