Evaluate the influence of panel composition on facial attractiveness

Abstract

Introduction: The study was conducted to evaluate the influence of professional background, age and gender, of panel members on their evaluation of the facial attractiveness of adolescents. Materials and Methods: A panel of 20 adult laymen 20 professionals (orthodontist and maxillofacial surgeons) evaluated photographic sets (one frontal and one lateral view) of 170 adolescents (76 boys and 94 girls) on a visual analogue scale (VAS) in relation to a reference set of photographs. The effects of the characteristics of the panel members on the VAS scores for boys and girls separately, as well as their interactions, were evaluated by multilevel models. Statistical Analysis: The influence of professional background, age and gender on the VAS scores for the boys and the girls separately and their possible interactions were tested within the framework of multilevel models. Student's t -test for equality of means and Levene's test for equality of variances were performed. Conclusion: The multilevel model and first-order interactions revealed that laymen rated adolescents as more attractive than professionals. Male laymen rated the boys and girls significant more attractive than male professionals. Young laymen rated boys and girls significantly more attractive than young professionals. Young laymen rated girls significantly more attractive than old laymen.