ATTRACTIVENESS OF NATURAL FACES COMPARED TO COMPUTER CONSTRUCTED PERFECTLY SYMMETRICAL FACES

Attractiveness of natural faces was compared to perfectly symmetrical faces constructed on the computer from digitized photographs, in order to assess the role of left-right symmetry in beauty assessment. Three different groups of participants viewed separate series of sequentially presented faces (natural faces, left-left, and right-right) and provided attractiveness ratings on a 5-point Likert scale. The results revealed statistically significant lower ratings for the computer constructed left-left and right-right compared to the natural faces. The discussion is in the context of a biological trend away from perfect symmetry in primates consequent to adaptive evolutionary alteration favoring functional asymmetry in the brain, perception, and face.

[1]  Dahlia W. Zaidel,et al.  She is not a beauty even when she smiles: Possible evolutionary basis for a relationship between facial attractiveness and hemispheric specialization , 1995, Neuropsychologia.

[2]  D. Bowers,et al.  Lateralized asymmetry of facial motor evoked potentials , 2005, Neurology.

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

[4]  D. Laskin,et al.  Upper lip asymmetry in adults during smiling. , 2001, Journal of oral and maxillofacial surgery : official journal of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.

[5]  B. Mullen,et al.  Facial asymmetry in emotional expression: A meta-analysis of research , 1991 .

[6]  Mineo Yoshino,et al.  Detecting hemifacial asymmetries in emotional expression with three–dimensional computerized image analysis , 2004, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[7]  V F Ferrario,et al.  Distance from symmetry: a three-dimensional evaluation of facial asymmetry. , 1994, Journal of oral and maxillofacial surgery : official journal of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.

[8]  V F Ferrario,et al.  Craniofacial morphometry by photographic evaluations. , 1993, American journal of orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics : official publication of the American Association of Orthodontists, its constituent societies, and the American Board of Orthodontics.

[9]  J. Swaddle,et al.  Visual signalling by asymmetry: a review of perceptual processes. , 1999, Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences.

[10]  P. Vig,et al.  Asymmetry of the human facial skeleton. , 1975, The Angle orthodontist.

[11]  S Peck,et al.  Skeletal asymmetry in esthetically pleasing faces. , 2009, The Angle orthodontist.

[12]  V. Ferrario,et al.  A three-dimensional evaluation of human facial asymmetry. , 1995, Journal of anatomy.

[13]  Dahlia W. Zaidel,et al.  Appearance of symmetry, beauty, and health in human faces , 2005, Brain and Cognition.

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

[15]  W. Hamilton,et al.  Sexual reproduction as an adaptation to resist parasites (a review). , 1990, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[16]  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.

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

[18]  L. Farkas.  Anthropometry of the head and face , 1994 .

[19]  M. Hauser.  Right hemisphere dominance for the production of facial expression in monkeys. , 1993, Science.

[20]  Kenneth Webb,et al.  Evolution of Communication Simulation of Adaptive Behavior – Project Report , 2004 .

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

[22]  A. Møller,et al.  Bumblebee preference for symmetrical flowers. , 1995, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[23]  Paul H. Harvey,et al.  The Ant and the Peacock , 1992 .

[24]  Renlai Zhou,et al.  Effects of Viewing Pleasant and Unpleasant Photographs on Facial EMG Asymmetry , 2004, Perceptual and motor skills.

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

[26]  W. Hopkins,et al.  Functional asymmetry of emotions in primates: new findings in chimpanzees , 2002, Brain Research Bulletin.

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

[28]  B Skvarilová,et al.  Facial asymmetry: an X-ray study. , 1994, Acta chirurgiae plasticae.

[29]  K. Zilles,et al.  Neuroanatomical Basis of Facial Expression in Monkeys, Apes, and Humans , 2003, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

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

[31]  Chiarella Sforza,et al.  A Quantitative Three-Dimensional Assessment of Soft Tissue Facial Asymmetry of Cleft Lip and Palate Adult Patients , 2003, The Journal of craniofacial surgery.

[32]  Audrey Chen,et al.  Brain asymmetry and facial attractiveness: Facial beauty is not simply in the eye of the beholder , 1997, Neuropsychologia.

[33]  D. Zaidel,et al.  Functional asymmetry in the human face: Perception of health in the left and right sides of the face , 2001, Laterality.

[34]  D. Zaidel,et al.  THE FACE, BEAUTY, AND SYMMETRY: PERCEIVING ASYMMETRY IN BEAUTIFUL FACES , 2005, The International journal of neuroscience.