Comparisons in perception of facial skin brightness, as influenced by differences in skin color: Asian observers

Abstract

AbstractHuman skin color is one of the most common colors that we see and perceive in everyday life. Previous research on skin color distribution in young Japanese women has revealed that yellowish skin has higher lightness than reddish skin. Furthermore, reddish skin appears brighter than yellowish skin when both have the same lightness (Yoshikawa et al., 2012). Despite these findings, it is unclear how brightness perception of facial skin color is influenced by the diversity of skin colors and observers. The present study investigated the perception of facial skin color among observers in three Asian countries. A young Japanese female face was used, and test faces of four skin color shades were prepared, corresponding to the average skin colors of Japanese, Thai, Caucasian, and African individuals. A test image (with constant lightness but different hue angles) and a scale image (with the original hue but varying lightness) were presented side‐by‐side on a color‐calibrated tablet display, and observers adjusted the brightness of the facial skin of the scale image to match that of the test image. The findings indicated that Japanese observers showed a trend in which reddish skin was perceived as brighter than yellowish skin; however, Thai and Chinese observers did not show this trend. This implies the potential influence of ethnicities or environments on brightness perception of facial skin.