2008 Woodie Awards
Researchers breakdown the science behind attractiveness
Rose Soliven
Issue date: 10/17/07 Section: Entertainment
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For many college students, thinking another person is attractive is a common event that happens without a complete understanding of how or why it occurs.
In a 2005 study that involved briskly presenting face images to participants, Ingrid R. Olson, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania, and Christy Marshuetz, a psychologist from Yale University, found that attractiveness is determined from very short glimpses. Although the participants reported they could not tell how the images looked, they were still able to judge the faces' overall attractiveness.
However, one question comes to mind - what exactly makes a person more attractive than another?
One factor that may come into play when assessing attractiveness is symmetry. Since the late 1990s, researchers, like L. Mealey and R. Bridgestock from the University of Queensland and G.C. Townsend from the University of Adelaide in Australia, have determined that people like faces that are equally balanced.
Studies from 2002 and 2003 provide a couple explanations for this preference. In his book "Social Psychology," Stephen L. Franzoi explains how evolutionary psychologists, like Ian Penton-Voak from the University of Bristol, contend that people like symmetry because it signifies physical health, which plays a role when choosing a sexual partner, while perceptual psychologists, like David Perrett from the University of St Andrews in Scotland, claim that it is easier for the brain to process symmetrical rather than asymmetrical faces.
Researchers also say that people find "average" faces the most attractive. Judith Langlois, from the University of Texas at Austin, claimed in a 1994 study that people prefer faces that can be found typically in a population, not ones far out of the ordinary.
Another question concerning this subject is what effect attractiveness has on selecting a dating or life partner.
In 2007, Peter M. Todd, a cognitive scientist from Indiana University at Bloomington, conducted a study that observed participants in a speed dating situation and looked at the people they chose to date again. The results revealed that men value good looks more than women when it comes to dating.
In a 2005 study that involved briskly presenting face images to participants, Ingrid R. Olson, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Pennsylvania, and Christy Marshuetz, a psychologist from Yale University, found that attractiveness is determined from very short glimpses. Although the participants reported they could not tell how the images looked, they were still able to judge the faces' overall attractiveness.
However, one question comes to mind - what exactly makes a person more attractive than another?
One factor that may come into play when assessing attractiveness is symmetry. Since the late 1990s, researchers, like L. Mealey and R. Bridgestock from the University of Queensland and G.C. Townsend from the University of Adelaide in Australia, have determined that people like faces that are equally balanced.
Studies from 2002 and 2003 provide a couple explanations for this preference. In his book "Social Psychology," Stephen L. Franzoi explains how evolutionary psychologists, like Ian Penton-Voak from the University of Bristol, contend that people like symmetry because it signifies physical health, which plays a role when choosing a sexual partner, while perceptual psychologists, like David Perrett from the University of St Andrews in Scotland, claim that it is easier for the brain to process symmetrical rather than asymmetrical faces.
Researchers also say that people find "average" faces the most attractive. Judith Langlois, from the University of Texas at Austin, claimed in a 1994 study that people prefer faces that can be found typically in a population, not ones far out of the ordinary.
Another question concerning this subject is what effect attractiveness has on selecting a dating or life partner.
In 2007, Peter M. Todd, a cognitive scientist from Indiana University at Bloomington, conducted a study that observed participants in a speed dating situation and looked at the people they chose to date again. The results revealed that men value good looks more than women when it comes to dating.
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