MONDAY, Dec. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Women with facial proportions that
are closest to average are considered the most beautiful by their peers,
research suggests.
Researchers from the University of California San Diego and the University of
Toronto asked college students to view digital photos of women's faces that were
identical except for slight alterations in certain facial proportions, including
placement of the eyes and the relationship between the eyes and mouth.
Female faces that followed certain proportions were judged more attractive by
their peers -- specifically, a vertical distance between the eyes and mouth
that's 36 percent of facial length, and a horizontal distance between the eyes
that's 46 percent of facial width. Researchers are calling it a "golden ratio."
Though it is unknown why faces that follow these proportions are considered
lovelier, researchers say one theory is that humans have a mental prototype that
represents an average of all faces and those that are closest to it are
considered the most appealing. Previous research has shown that those with
symmetrical faces are also perceived as more beautiful, possibly because the
symmetry indicates good health. It is possible that evolutionary biology
dictates that average faces are viewed in much the same way, the study authors
noted.
So
does this mean women shouldn't bother with cosmetics and appointments at the
salon?
Not so fast, the study authors noted.
"We already know that different facial features make a female face attractive --
large eyes, for example, or full lips," said study co-author Kang Lee, a
professor at University of Toronto and the director of the Institute of Child
Study at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. "Our study conclusively
proves that the structure of faces -- the relation between our face contour and
the eyes, mouth and nose -- also contributes to our perception of facial
attractiveness. Our finding also explains why sometimes an attractive person
looks unattractive or vice versa after a haircut, because hairdos change the
ratios."
Since only white female faces were included, the authors noted that there may be
a different set of ideal proportions for other racial groups, male faces or
children's faces.
SOURCE: University of California, San Diego and University of Toronto, news
release, Dec. 16. 2009
