Influence of magnitude of horizontal and vertical deformation on preference for morphed faces

The purpose of this study was to assess whether the magnitude of the extreme horizontal or vertical deformations of morphed facial features influenced judgments of acceptability or preference of the facial soft tissue profile. Twelve judges responded to 5 changing features of 2 faces with clinically divergent malocclusions under 3 stimulus conditions, i.e., the magnitudes of the distortions were biased in the direction of preferred change, equally distorted in both directions and opposite to preferred change. For each condition, judges responded by pressing a mouse button when the feature became "acceptable" and releasing it when no longer acceptable and by pressing the button when the most pleasing distortion appeared. A small significant shift in the mean acceptability and preference was found for some features. Differences between the faces, however, remained constant, indicating that magnitude of distortion has little effect on acceptability or preference for changes in soft-tissue profiles.