If you’ve been on the internet for the past year or so, you may have noticed a rising trend of people who have developed an obsession with having better facial characteristics. While people aspiring to be more attractive is hardly anything new, things appear to be getting out of hand considering that now there are entire online communities that are exclusively dedicated to ‘mewing', a facial exercise that purportedly makes one’s jawline more visible. Of course, this is done with the underlying assumption that a more symmetric and three-dimensional face is more beautiful.
But is there proof for any of this? If so, what anatomical traits make someone a desirable partner? And more importantly, is this fad safe to pursue? Could it worsen obsessive disorders and feelings of insecurity? These are some of the issues I will examine in this post.
To my pleasant surprise, there happens to be an extensive quantity of academic literature that examines the relationship between facial anatomy and attractiveness, with some papers even going back as far as 1932. Most of these studies involve presenting specially made images of faces to subjects. For example, in one study, photographs of 15 men and women were collected following which they had their face symmetries digitally adjusted. Participants were then asked to choose between the original and altered images. The results showed that nearly 58 percent of subjects preferred faces with a higher degree of symmetry.
These findings unequivocally demonstrate that both males and females find symmetrical faces to be more appealing. The correlation between facial anatomy and sexual desirability is also found in animal species like insects and birds. But why is this so?
According to evolutionary psychologists, the human mind may have evolved to associate persons with more appealing faces with healthier genes. Thus, mating with them has a reproductive benefit as it increases the likelihood of producing healthier offspring. But recent data shows that this inclination may not just be for mating purposes, as facial anatomy also seems to affect how we make friends and allies. Perhaps this indicates that our early ancestors favoured genetically healthier companions as that would probably boost their chances for survival.
Quite interestingly, facial symmetry is also linked to the five personality traits. There are a handful of studies that suggest that people who have better-proportioned facial features show higher extroversion. This too could be attributed to evolutionary incentives.
I was initially worried about sharing this information as I was concerned whether it gave off the impression that I was perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards. Let me assure you, reader, that was never my intention. I’m merely intrigued by the phenomena of attraction and its underlying causative processes. Like many online, I too find myself questioning my attractiveness and comparing my looks with others. Perhaps we can give ourselves some form of respite knowing that these studies pertain to the spontaneous attraction that occurs between two individuals when they see each other for the first time. In reality, however, human attraction is more complex and depends on a whole host of variables including personality, emotional connection, and intelligence. While physical attraction is indeed an important factor, a healthy relationship can only flourish when there exists mutual understanding and compassion between both parties.
References:
1. Perrett, D. I., Burt, D. M., Penton-Voak, I. S., Lee, K. J., Rowland, D. A., & Edwards, R. (1999). Symmetry and human facial attractiveness. Evolution and human behavior, 20(5), 295-307.
2. Thornhill, Randy, and Steven W. Gangestad. "Facial attractiveness." Trends in cognitive sciences 3.12 (1999): 452-460.
3. Pound, N., Penton-Voak, I. S., & Brown, W. M. (2007). Facial symmetry is positively associated with self-reported extraversion. Personality and Individual Differences, 43(6), 1572-1582.
Comments