Human Physical Attractiveness Research Articles

Predictors of enhancing human physical attractiveness: Data from 93 countries

People across the world and throughout history have gone to great lengths to enhance their physical appearance. Evolutionary psychologists and ethologists have largely attempted to explain this phenomenon via mating preferences and strategies. Here, we test one of the most popular evolutionary hypotheses for beauty-enhancing behaviors, drawn from mating market and parasite stress perspectives, in a large cross-cultural sample. We also test hypotheses drawn from other influential and non-mutually exclusive theoretical frameworks, from biosocial role theory to a cultural media perspective. Survey data from 93,158 human participants across 93 countries provide evidence that behaviors such as applying makeup or using other cosmetics, hair grooming, clothing style, caring for body hygiene, and exercising or following a specific diet for the specific purpose of improving ones physical attractiveness, are universal. Indeed, 99% of participants reported spending >10 min a day performing beauty-enhancing behaviors. The results largely support evolutionary hypotheses: more time was spent enhancing beauty by women (almost 4 h a day, on average) than by men (3.6 h a day), by the youngest participants (and contrary to predictions, also the oldest), by those with a relatively more severe history of infectious diseases, and by participants currently dating compared to those in established relationships. The strongest predictor of attractiveness-enhancing behaviors was social media usage. Other predictors, in order of effect size, included adhering to traditional gender roles, residing in countries with less gender equality, considering oneself as highly attractive or, conversely, highly unattractive, TV watching time, higher socioeconomic status, right-wing political beliefs, a lower level of education, and personal individualistic attitudes. This study provides novel insight into universal beauty-enhancing behaviors by unifying evolutionary theory with several other complementary perspectives.

No compelling evidence that more physically attractive young adult women have higher estradiol or progesterone

Putative associations between sex hormones and attractive physical characteristics in women are central to many theories of human physical attractiveness and mate choice. Although such theories have become very influential, evidence that physically attractive and unattractive women have different hormonal profiles is equivocal. Consequently, we investigated hypothesized relationships between salivary estradiol and progesterone and two aspects of women’s physical attractiveness that are commonly assumed to be correlated with levels of these hormones: facial attractiveness (N = 249) and waist-to-hip ratio (N = 247). Our analyses revealed no compelling evidence that women with more attractive faces or lower (i.e., more attractive) waist-to-hip ratios had higher levels of estradiol or progesterone. One analysis did suggest that women with more attractive waist-to-hip ratios had significantly higher progesterone, but the relationship was weak and the relationship not significant in other analyses. These results do not support the influential hypothesis that between-women differences in physical attractiveness are related to estradiol and/or progesterone.

Attractiveness Is Multimodal: Beauty Is Also in the Nose and Ear of the Beholder.

Attractiveness plays a central role in human non-verbal communication and has been broadly examined in diverse subfields of contemporary psychology. Researchers have garnered compelling evidence in support of the evolutionary functions of physical attractiveness and its role in our daily lives, while at the same time, having largely ignored the significant contribution of non-visual modalities and the relationships among them. Acoustic and olfactory cues can, separately or in combination, strongly influence the perceived attractiveness of an individual and therefore attitudes and actions toward that person. Here, we discuss the relative importance of visual, auditory and olfactory traits in judgments of attractiveness, and review neural and behavioral studies that support the highly complex and multimodal nature of person perception. Further, we discuss three alternative evolutionary hypotheses aimed at explaining the function of multiple indices of attractiveness. In this review, we provide several lines of evidence supporting the importance of the voice, body odor, and facial and body appearance in the perception of attractiveness and mate preferences, and therefore the critical need to incorporate cross-modal perception and multisensory integration into future research on human physical attractiveness.

Can we believe judgements of human physical attractiveness?

A key question in attractiveness studies is the validity of the reported results outside the narrow confines of the experimental paradigm used. Does the range of physical features in a set of pictures used to test attractiveness judgements predict the individual ratings of each body? Or does each stimulus have an attractiveness value independent of the range of attractiveness found in the image set of which it is a part? An additional problem is that because participants are often shown a relatively large array of images in a short space of time, this may produce perceptual biases, which could cause a short-term shift in attractiveness preferences, which are not usually found in real-life mate choice decisions. To address this issue, we asked 20 participants (10 male and 10 female) to judge the attractiveness of 20 digital photographs of female bodies. We then asked a different set of 400 people (who had not seen the body pictures) to judge the attractiveness of one of the bodies from the set (so each body was rated in isolation by 10 male and 10 female participants). We then compared the attractiveness judgement each body received when seen independently versus when it was seen within the context of a set of bodies. The results showed no significant difference between the two conditions, which suggests that each body has an attractiveness value independent of the attractiveness of the other bodies with which it is viewed.

Facial profile preferences, self-awareness and perception among a sample of university students

Background: The face is thought to be an important feature in the determination of human physical attractiveness. Individuals with attractive faces tending to be more socially flourishingand friendly in the community. Objectives: A cross sectional study to assess facial profile preference and self awareness in a sample of Sudanese university students and its correlation between genders. Material and methods: Total sample of 358 Sudanese students (179 Males and 179 Females), facial profile photographs were taken from each student. To assess differences in facial profile perception, students were asked to rank the profiles using seven different facial profile silhouette for each gender on a series from most to least attractive. Awareness of the facial appearance on a profile view was evaluated using questionnaires fulfilled by the students. Results: The straight facial profile was evident to be extremely attractive by both males (30.7%) and females (37.4%), retruded maxilla followed by a similar result amongst females (37.4%). The least attractive profiles were the protrusive maxilla (28.5%) and the bimaxillary protrusion (33.5%) for the male and the female profiles, respectively. A higher percentage of females (71.5%) were aware of their facial profile than male participants (51.4%). A statistically significant difference was found between gender and both facial profile perception and self-awareness (p value ≤0.05). Conclusion: Straight facial profile was chosen to be the most attractive facial profile among both genders. Most of the students correctly perceived their facial profile; thus a strong correlation was found between facial profile preference and self awareness as well as gender.

Effect of Leg-to-Body Ratio on Body Shape Attractiveness

Recent studies have examined various aspects of human physical attractiveness. Attractiveness is considered an evolved psychological mechanism acquired via natural selection because an attractive body reflects an individual's health and fertility. The length of the legs is an often-emphasized aspect of attractiveness and has been investigated using the leg-to-body ratio (LBR), which reflects nutritional status of the infant, health status, fecundity, and other factors that are predictive of physical fitness. However, previous studies of leg length and physical fitness have produced mixed results. The present study investigated the relationship between LBR, defined as the height to perineum divided by total height, and perceived attractiveness. Three-dimensional stimuli (11 male and 11 female) were constructed with various LBR features. Each stimulus was rated by 40 women and 40 men in Japan on a 7-point scale. The results showed that the values closest to the average LBRs were rated as the most attractive. Furthermore, by fitting a quadratic curve on the relationship between attractiveness and LBR, an inverted U-shaped curve with the peak located at the average LBR was observed. In addition, high LBR values were rated as more attractive in females, whereas the opposite was true for males. These results suggest that average LBR is indicative of good health and good reproductive potential, whereas more extreme values are avoided because they could be indicative of diseases and other maladaptive conditions.

The influence of leg-to-body ratio (LBR) on judgments of female physical attractiveness: Assessments of computer-generated images varying in LBR

The leg-to-body ratio (LBR), which is reliably associated with developmental stability and health outcomes, is an understudied component of human physical attractiveness. Several studies examining the effects of LBR on aesthetic judgments have been limited by the reliance on stimuli composed of hand-drawn silhouettes. In the present study, we developed a new set of female computer-generated images portraying eight levels of LBR that fell within the typical range of human variation. A community sample of 207 Britons in London and students from two samples drawn from a US university ( Ns = 940, 114) rated the physical attractiveness of the images. We found that mid-ranging female LBRs were perceived as maximally attractive. The present research overcomes some of the problems associated with past work on LBR and aesthetic preferences through use of computer-generated images rather than hand-drawn images and provides an instrument that may be useful in future investigations of LBR preferences.

Cosmetic Medical Treatments

Cosmetic medical treatments have become mainstream, and images of beauty surround us on television, in magazines, and in advertising. It is no wonder that the quest for beauty has become so prevalent. This paper explores why individuals choose to undergo cosmetic procedures, and looks at the nature versus nurture debate surrounding this phenomenon. It is important for nurses, physicians, nurse practitioners, or other healthcare professionals involved in the cosmetic surgery field to understand the underlying motivations for choosing to undergo elective cosmetic procedures in order to make appropriate choices about their patients' care. The first theory in this article is rooted in the "nature" school-of-thought and explores the evolutionary basis behind the quest for beauty. It shows that we may be 'hardwired' to think that our appearance signals our reproductive capability (D. B. Sarwer, L. Magee, & V. Clark, 2004) and that human physical attractiveness is merely a collection of physical traits that signal fecundity and health (V. Swami, C. Greven, & A. Furnham, 2007). The "nurture" concept focuses on the second theory, the sociocultural theory, which implies that people who choose to use cosmetic medical treatments to enhance their appearance may be attempting to increase their self-image or self-perception, improve their social relationships, and increase their probability of success across a variety of social situations. Other minor theories such as the estrogen theory and the psychological theory are discussed, along with implications for practice. All of these theories are valuable to the healthcare professional and allow a deeper understanding of the psyche of their patients.

The relative importance of the face and body in judgments of human physical attractiveness

A number of traits have been proposed to be important in human mate choice decisions. However, relatively little work has been conducted to determine the relative importance of these traits. In this study, we assessed the relative importance of the face and body in judgments of human physical attractiveness. One hundred twenty-seven men and 133 women were shown images of 10 individuals of the opposite sex. Participants rated the images for their attractiveness for either a short-term relationship or a long-term relationship. Images of the face and the body were rated independently before participants were shown and asked to rate the combined face and body images. Face ratings were found to be the best predictor of the ratings of combined images for both sexes and for both relationship types. Females showed no difference in ratings between short- and long-term conditions, but male ratings of female bodies became relatively more important for a short-term relationship compared with a long-term relationship. Results suggest that faces and bodies may be signaling different information about potential mates.

Physical attractiveness of face and body as indicators of physical fitness in men

Human physical attractiveness appears to be an important signal of mate value that is utilized in mate choice We argue that performance-related physical fitness (PF) was an important facet of ancestral male mate value and, therefore, that a positive relationship exists between PF and physical attractiveness as well as mating success. We investigated these relationships in a sample of 80 young men. In line with our predictions, we found that (i) a composite measure of PF correlated substantially with body attractiveness ( r=.43, after controlling for confounds) but not with facial attractiveness; (ii) PF was positively related to various measures of self-reported mating success ( r S ≈ .22); (iii) the relationship between PF and self-reported mating success was partly mediated by body attractiveness. We conclude it is a key function of men's body attractiveness to signal their PF and that men's faces and bodies signal different facets of mate value.

Visible skin color distribution plays a role in the perception of age, attractiveness, and health in female faces

Evolutionary psychologists have proposed that preferences for facial characteristics, such as symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism, may reflect adaptations for mate choice because they signal aspects of mate quality. Here, we show that facial skin color distribution significantly influences the perception of age and attractiveness of female faces, independent of facial form and skin surface topography. A set of three-dimensional shape-standardized stimulus faces—varying only in terms of skin color distribution due to variation in biological age and cumulative photodamage—was rated by a panel of naive judges for a variety of perceptual endpoints relating to age, health, and beauty. Shape- and topography-standardized stimulus faces with the homogeneous skin color distribution of young people were perceived as younger and received significantly higher ratings for attractiveness and health than analogous stimuli with the relatively inhomogeneous skin color distribution of more elderly people. Thus, skin color distribution, independent of facial form and skin surface topography, seems to have a major influence on the perception of female facial age and judgments of attractiveness and health as they may signal aspects of underlying physiological condition of an individual relevant for mate choice. We suggest that studies on human physical attractiveness and its perception need to consider the influence of visible skin condition driven by color distribution and differentiate between such effects and beauty-related traits due to facial shape and skin topography.

THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS

Everywhere the issue has been examined, people make discriminations about others’ physical attractiveness. Can human standards of physical attractiveness be understood through the lens of evolutionary biology? In the past decade, this question has guided much theoretical and empirical work. In this paper, we (a) outline the basic adaptationist approach that has guided the bulk of this work, (b) describe evolutionary models of signaling that have been applied to understand human physical attractiveness, and (c) discuss and evaluate specific lines of empirical research attempting to address the selective history of human standards of physical attractiveness. We also discuss ways evolutionary scientists have attempted to understand variability in standards of attractiveness across cultures as well as the ways current literature speaks to body modification in modern Western cultures. Though much work has been done, many fundamental questions remain unanswered.

Visual cues to female physical attractiveness.

Evolutionary psychology suggests that a woman's sexual attractiveness is based on cues of health and reproductive potential. In recent years, research has focused on the ratio of the width of the waist to the width of the hips (the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). A low WHR (i.e. a curvaceous body) is believed to correspond to the optimal fat distribution for high fertility, and so this shape should be highly attractive. In this paper we present evidence that weight scaled for height (the body mass index (BMI)) is the primary determinant of sexual attractiveness rather than WHR. BMI is also strongly linked to health and reproductive potential. Furthermore, we show how covariation of apparent BMI and WHR in previous studies led to the overestimation of the importance of WHR in the perception of female attractiveness. Finally, we show how visual cues, such as the perimeter-area ratio (PAR), can provide an accurate and reliable index of an individual's BMI and could be used by an observer to differentiate between potential partners.

A Critical Test of the Waist-to-Hip-Ratio Hypothesis of Female Physical Attractiveness

Recent research has led to increasingly sophisticated conjectures as to the roles that genetic heritage, prior experience, and environmental context play in the production and maintenance of complex behaviors. The field of evolutionary psychology was born of such conjectures (Stanley, 1895) and now serves as a niche for a growing number of researchers (Buss, 1995; Kenrick, 1994). One of the more provocative lines of experimental research to emerge from this alembic derives from the linkage of evolutionary theories of human mate selection with definitions of physical attractiveness based on somatic characteristics that simultaneously signal attractiveness and predict reproductive potential (Buss, 1989). The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) has been purportedly demonstrated to be a robust example of just such an invariant perceptual cue (e.g., Henss, 1995; Singh, 1993a). Here, we report that judgments of attractiveness and fecundity can be either unrelated or related, positively or negatively, to the WHR depending on waist size, hip size, and weight, and are thus inconsistent with the evolutionary argument that human physical attractiveness is fundamentally a sign of mate value.

Human facial beauty

It is hypothesized that human faces judged to be attractive by people possess two features-averageness and symmetry-that promoted adaptive mate selection in human evolutionary history by way of production of offspring with parasite resistance. Facial composites made by combining individual faces are judged to be attractive, and more attractive than the majority of individual faces. The composites possess both symmetry and averageness of features. Facial averageness may reflect high individual protein heterozygosity and thus an array of proteins to which parasites must adapt. Heterozygosity may be an important defense of long-lived hosts against parasites when it occurs in portions of the genome that do not code for the essential features of complex adaptations. In this case heterozygosity can create a hostile microenvironment for parasites without disrupting adaptation. Facial bilateral symmetry is hypothesized to affect positive beauty judgments because symmetry is a certification of overall phenotypic quality and developmental health, which may be importantly influenced by parasites. Certain secondary sexual traits are influenced by testosterone, a hormone that reduces immunocompetence. Symmetry and size of the secondary sexual traits of the face (e.g., cheek bones) are expected to correlate positively and advertise immunocompetence honestly and therefore to affect positive beauty judgments. Facial attractiveness is predicted to correlate with attractive, nonfacial secondary sexual traits; other predictions from the view that parasite-driven selection led to the evolution of psychological adaptations of human beauty perception are discussed. The view that human physical attractiveness and judgments about human physical attractiveness evolved in the context of parasite-driven selection leads to the hypothesis that both adults and children have a species-typical adaptation to the problem of identifying and favoring healthy individuals and avoiding parasite-susceptible individuals. It is proposed that this adaptation guides human decisions about nepotism and reciprocity in relation to physical attractiveness.