Modeling individual preferences reveals that face beauty is not universally perceived across cultures

Curr Biol. 2021 Mar 30:S0960-9822(21)00352-3. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.013. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTFacial attractiveness confers considerable advantages in social interactions,1,2 with preferences likely reflecting psychobiological mechanisms shaped by natural selection. Theories of universal beauty propose that attractive faces comprise features that are closer to the population average3 while optimizing sexual dimorphism.4 However, emerging evidence questions this model as an accurate representation of facial attractiveness,5-7 including representing the diversity of beauty preferences within and across cultures.8-12 Here, we demonstrate that Western Europeans (WEs) and East Asians (EAs) evaluate facial beauty using culture-specific features, contradicting theories of universality. With a data-driven method, we modeled, at both the individual and group levels, the attractive face features of young females (25 years old) in two matched groups each of 40 young male WE and EA participants. Specifically, we generated a broad range of same- and other-ethnicity female faces with naturally varying shapes and complexions. Participants rated each on attractiveness. We then reverse correlated the face features that drive perception of attractiveness in each participant. From these individual face models, we reconstructed a facial attractiveness representation space that explains preference variations. We show that facial attractiveness is distinct both from averageness and f...

Source: Current Biology - April 2, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Jiayu Zhan Meng Liu Oliver G B Garrod Christoph Daube Robin A A Ince Rachael E Jack Philippe G Schyns Source Type: research