Are Average Facial Configurations Attractive Only Because of Their Symmetry?

Several commentators have suggested that the attractiveness of average facial configurations could be due solely to associated changes in symmetry. If this symmetry hypothesis is correct, then averageness should not account for significant variance in attractiveness ratings when the effect of symmetry is partialed out. Furthermore, changes in attractiveness produced by manipulating the averageness of individual faces should disappear when all the images are made perfectly symmetric. The experiments reported support neither prediction. Symmetry and averageness (or distinctiveness, the converse of averageness) made independent contributions to attractiveness (Experiments 1 and 2), and changes in attractiveness resulting from changes in averageness remained when the images were made perfectly symmetric (Experiment 2). These results allow us to reject the symmetry hypothesis, and strengthen the evidence that facial averageness is attractive.

[1]  F. Galton.  Composite Portraits, Made by Combining Those of Many Different Persons Into a Single Resultant Figure. , 1879 .

[2]  C. Ingleby.  Composite Portraits , 1885, Nature.

[3]  D. Symons.  Evolution of human sexuality , 1979 .

[4]  J. Langlois,et al.  Attractive Faces Are Only Average , 1990 .

[5]  F H Previc,et al.  A general theory concerning the prenatal origins of cerebral lateralization in humans. , 1991, Psychological review.

[6]  M. Cunningham,et al.  Article Commentary: Averaged Faces Are Attractive, but Very Attractive Faces Are Not Average , 1991 .

[7]  Swallows and scorpionflies find symmetry is beautiful. , 1992, Science.

[8]  Doug Jones,et al.  Criteria of facial attractiveness in five populations , 1993, Human nature.

[9]  Randy Thornhill,et al.  Human facial beauty , 1993, Human nature.

[10]  G. Butterworth,et al.  Facial Aesthetics: Babies Prefer Attractiveness to Symmetry , 1994, Perception.

[11]  R. Thornhill,et al.  Facial attractiveness, developmental stability, and fluctuating asymmetry. , 1994 .

[12]  J. Langlois,et al.  What Is Average and What Is Not Average About Attractive Faces? , 1994 .

[13]  K. Grammer,et al.  Human (Homo sapiens) facial attractiveness and sexual selection: the role of symmetry and averageness. , 1994, Journal of comparative psychology.

[14]  R. Thornhill,et al.  Fluctuating asymmetry and sexual selection. , 1994, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[15]  R. Thornhill,et al.  Human Fluctuating Asymmetry and Sexual Behavior , 1994 .

[16]  Andrew Pomiankowski,et al.  Symmetry is in the eye of the beholder. , 1994, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[17]  I. Cuthill,et al.  Asymmetry and human facial attractiveness: symmetry may not always be beautiful , 1995, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[18]  F. Keil,et al.  Categorical effects in the perception of faces , 1995, Cognition.

[19]  Cheng-Huan Wu,et al.  "Their ideas of beauty are, on the whole, the same as ours": Consistency and variability in the cross-cultural perception of female physical attractiveness. , 1995 .

[20]  R. Kowner,et al.  Facial asymmetry and attractiveness judgment in developmental perspective. , 1996, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[21]  L. Zebrowitz,et al.  "Wide-Eyed" and "Crooked-Faced": Determinants of Perceived and Real Honesty Across the Life Span , 1996 .

[22]  G. Rhodes,et al.  Averageness, Exaggeration, and Facial Attractiveness , 1996 .

[23]  R. Larsen,et al.  Facial asymmetry as an indicator of psychological, emotional, and physiological distress. , 1997, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[24]  G. Rhodes,et al.  Facial symmetry and the perception of beauty , 1998 .

[25]  Leslie A. Zebrowitz,et al.  Does Human Facial Attractiveness Honestly Advertise Health? Longitudinal Data on an Evolutionary Question , 1998 .

[26]  A. Møller,et al.  Asymmetry, Developmental Stability, and Evolution , 1998 .

[27]  D. Perrett,et al.  Symmetry and human facial attractiveness. , 1999 .