Physical attractiveness: Difference between revisions

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	====Genetics====		====Genetics====
	{{See also\|Heterozygote advantage}}		{{See also\|Heterozygote advantage\|Major Histocompatibility Complex and Sexual Selection}}
	New studies are exploring the genetic basis behind such issues as facial symmetry and body scent and how they influence physical attraction. In one study in which women wore men's T-shirts, researchers found that women were more attracted to the bodily scents in shirts of men who had a different type of gene section within the DNA called ].<ref name=twsYuiu>{{cite news		New studies are exploring the genetic basis behind such issues as facial symmetry and body scent and how they influence physical attraction. In one study in which women wore men's T-shirts, researchers found that women were more attracted to the bodily scents in shirts of men who had a different type of gene section within the DNA called ].<ref name=twsYuiu>{{cite news
	\|title= The laws of sexual attraction		\|title= The laws of sexual attraction

Revision as of 02:58, 19 August 2011

Physical attractiveness refers to a person's physical traits which are perceived to be aesthetically pleasing or beautiful. The term often implies sexual attractiveness or desirability, but can also be distinct from the two; for example, humans may regard the young as attractive for various reasons, but without sexual attraction. There are many factors which influence one person's attraction to another, with physical aspects being one of them.

Generally, physical attraction can be studied from a number of perspectives, including universal perceptions common to all human cultures, cultural and social aspects, and individual subjective preferences. Additionally, the perception of attractiveness can have a significant effect on how people are judged in terms of employment or social opportunities, friendship, sexual behavior, and marriage. In many cases, humans attribute positive characteristics, such as intelligence and honesty, to physically attractive people without consciously realizing it.

Some physical features are attractive in both men and women, particularly bodily and facial symmetry, although one contrary report suggested that "absolute flawlessness" with perfect symmetry can be "disturbing." Symmetry may be evolutionarily beneficial as a sign of health because asymmetry "signals past illness or injury". One study suggested people were able to "gauge beauty at a subliminal level" by seeing only a glimpse of a picture for one-hundredth of a second. Other important factors include youthfulness, skin clarity and smoothness of skin; and "vivid color" in the eyes and hair. But there are numerous differences based on gender.

Women, on average, tend to be more attracted to men who display a high-degree of facial symmetry, are taller than them and who have a relatively narrow waist, a V-shaped torso, and broad shoulders. Men, on average, tend to be attracted by women who are shorter than them, have a youthful appearance and exhibit features such as a symmetrical face, full breasts, full lips, and a low waist-hip ratio.

Male physical attractiveness

Women, on average, tend to be more attracted to men who have a relatively narrow waist, a V-shaped torso, and broad shoulders, are taller than they are, and display a high-degree of facial symmetry, and relatively masculine facial dimorphism.

According to one source, the most important factor that attracts gay men to other males is the man's physical attractiveness.

Facial attractiveness

Sexual dimorphism

Studies have shown that ovulating heterosexual women (and homosexual men) prefer faces with masculine traits associated with increased exposure to testosterone during key developmental stages, such as prominent and broad cheekbones, a relatively longer lower face, developed brows, and chiseled jawlines. The masculinity of male faces (and the femininity of female faces) is described as a sexual dimorphism. Female respondents in the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle (n = 55) were significantly more likely to choose a masculine face than those in menses and luteal phases (n = 84), (or in those taking hormonal contraception). It is suggested that the masculinity of facial features is a reliable indication of good health, or, alternatively, that masculine-looking males are more likely to achieve high status. However, the correlation between attractive facial features and health has been questioned. Also, females tend to prefer masculine facial traits more for short-term partners than for long-term partners. Sociocultural factors, such as self-perceived attractiveness, status in a relationship and degree of gender-conformity, have been reported to play a role in female preferences for male faces. Studies have found that women who perceive themselves as physically attractive are more likely to choose men with masculine facial dimorphism, than are women who perceive themselves as physically unattractive. In men, facial masculinity significantly correlates with facial symmetry—it has been suggested that both are signals of developmental stability and genetic health. Some studies have called into question the importance of facial masculinity in physical attractiveness in men revealing that when perceived health is factored in facial masculinity makes no difference in physical attractiveness.

Symmetry

Symmetrical faces and bodies may be signs of good inheritance to women of child-bearing age seeking to create healthy offspring. Studies suggest women are more attracted to men with symmetrical faces, and symmetrical faces correlate with long term mental performance and are an indication that a man has experienced "fewer genetic and environmental disturbances such as diseases, toxins, malnutrition or genetic mutations" while growing. When a face is symmetrical vertically, so that left and right sides mirror each other along a vertical axis, the mirroring makes it easy cognitively and perceptively for a human mind to tell if the two sides match. There is a visual copy of each side in plain view making it easy for a person to judge if left matches right. The mind can make this mental comparison in a split second to look for aberrations, distortions, or lopsided features. If faces were not symmetrical, then the mind would have a more challenging cognitive task of comparing the seen face with a remembered standard face. Further, a symmetrical face requires less DNA, since an inverse copy is made, saving on information storage. Since achieving symmetry is a difficult task during human growth, requiring literally billions of cell reproductions while maintaining a parallel structure, achieving symmetry is a visible signal of genetic health.

Studies have also suggested that women at peak fertility were more likely to fantasize about men with greater facial symmetry, and other studies have found that male symmetry was the only factor that could significantly predict the likelihood of a woman experiencing orgasm during sex. Women with partners possessing greater symmetry reported significantly more copulatory female orgasms than were reported by women with partners possessing low symmetry, even with many potential confounding variables controlled. This finding has been found to hold across different cultures. It has been argued that masculine facial dimorphism (in men) and symmetry in faces are signals advertising genetic quality in potential mates. Low facial and body fluctuating asymmetry may indicate good health and intelligence, which are desirable features. Studies have found that women who perceive themselves as being more physically attractive are more likely to favor men with a higher degree of facial symmetry, than are women who perceive themselves as being less physically attractive. It has been found that symmetrical men (and women) have a tendency to begin to have sexual intercourse at an earlier age, to have more sexual partners, and to have more one-night stands. They are also more likely to be prone to infidelity. A study of quarterbacks in the National Football League found a positive correlation between facial symmetry and salaries.

Body scent

A number of double-blind studies have found that women prefer the scent of men who are rated as facially attractive. For example, a study by Anja Rikowski and Karl Grammer had individuals rate the scent of t-shirts slept in by test subjects. The photographs of those subjects were independently rated, and Rikowski and Grammar found that both males and females were more attracted to the natural scent of individuals who had been rated by consensus as facially attractive. Additionally, it has also been shown that women have a preference for the scent of men with more symmetrical faces, and that women's preference for the scent of more symmetrical men is strongest during the most fertile period of their menstrual cycle. Within the set of normally cycling women, individual women's preference for the scent of men with high facial symmetry correlated with their probability of conception.

Genetics

New studies are exploring the genetic basis behind such issues as facial symmetry and body scent and how they influence physical attraction. In one study in which women wore men's T-shirts, researchers found that women were more attracted to the bodily scents in shirts of men who had a different type of gene section within the DNA called Major histocompatibility complex (MHC). MHC is a large gene area within the DNA of vertebrates which encodes proteins dealing with the immune system and which influences individual bodily odors. One hypothesis is that humans are naturally attracted by the sense of smell and taste to others with dissimilar MHC sections, perhaps to avoid subsequent inbreeding while increasing the genetic diversity of offspring. Further, there are studies showing that women's natural attraction for men with dissimilar immune profiles can be distorted with use of birth control pills. Other research findings involving the genetic foundations of attraction suggest that MHC heterozygosity positively correlates with male facial attractiveness. Women judge the faces of men who are heterozygous at all three MHC loci to be more attractive than the faces of men who are homozygous at one or more of these loci. Additionally, a second experiment with genotyped women raters, found these preferences were independent of the degree of MHC similarity between the men and the female rater. With MHC heterozygosity independently seen as a genetic advantage, the results suggest that facial attractiveness in men may be a measure of genetic quality.

Youth

For the Romans especially, "beardlessness" and "smooth young bodies" were considered beautiful to both men and women. For Greek and Roman men, the most desirable traits of boys were their "youth" and "hairlessness". Pubescent boys were considered a socially appropriate object of male desire, while post-pubescent boys were considered to be "ἔξωροι" or "past the prime". This was largely in the context of pederastry (adult male interest in adolescent boys).

Today, men and women's attitudes towards male beauty has changed. For example, body hair on men may even be preferred (see below).

Waist-to-chest ratio

The mesomorphic physique of a slim waist, broad shoulders and muscular chest are often found to be attractive. When asked to rate other men, both heterosexual and homosexual men found low waist-to-chest ratios (WCR) to be more attractive on other men with the gay men showing a preference for lower WCR (more V-shaped) than the straight men.

Genitalia

Studies based in China, England, the United States, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, Spain, and France have suggested that women consider men more attractive whose erect penis is longer and thicker.

Height and erect posture

Females' sexual attraction towards males may be determined by the height of the man. Height in men is associated with status or wealth in many cultures (in particular those where malnutrition is common), which is beneficial to women romantically involved with them. One study conducted of women's personal ads support the existence of this preference; the study found that in ads requesting height in a mate, 80% requested a height of 6 feet (1.8 m) or taller. However, this percentage was only of ads specifying height, and therefore possibly self-selected and/or biased by a third factor such as female height. Recent studies have shown that heterosexual women often prefer men taller than they are, rather than a man with above average height. While women usually desire men to be at least the same height as themselves or taller, several other factors also determine male attractiveness, and the male-taller norm is not universal. In certain non-Western cultures, the relative heights of partners have been shown to be irrelevant in their choice of mate, which suggests that Western height preferences may be sociocultural, rather than genetic, in nature. Professor Adam Eyre-Walker, from the University of Sussex, stated that there is, as yet, no evidence that these preferences are evolutionary preferences, as opposed to merely cultural preferences.

Additionally, women seem more receptive to an erect posture than men, though both prefer it as an element of beauty. According to one study (Yee N., 2002), gay men who identify as "Only Tops" tend to prefer shorter men, while gay men who identify as "Only Bottoms" tend to prefer taller men.

Hairiness

Studies based in the United States, New Zealand, and China have shown that women rate men with no body hair as most attractive, and that attractiveness ratings decline as hirsutism increases. Another study, however, found that moderate amounts of trunk hair on men was most attractive, to the sample of British and Sri Lankan women. Further, a degree of hirsuteness (hairiness) and a waist-to-shoulder ratio of 0.6 is often preferred, when combined with a mesomorphic physique.

In a study using Finnish women, women with hairy fathers were more likely to prefer hairy men, showing that preference for hairy men is either the result of genetics or imprinting. Among gay men, another study (Yee N., 2002) reported gay males who identify as "Only Tops" prefer less hairy men, while gay males who identify as "Only Bottoms" prefer hairier men.

Variability in preferences

It has been shown that women prefer men with a more masculine facial dimorphism during the fertile period of the menstrual cycle and men with a more feminine facial dimorphism during other parts of the cycle. This distinction supports the sexy son hypothesis, which posits that it is evolutionarily advantageous for women to select potential fathers who are more genetically attractive, rather than the best caregivers. According to one study, men with facial scars are more attractive to Western women seeking short-term relationships; the authors speculated that the facial scars could be seen by women as a symbol of masculinity, a possible indicator of genetically higher testosterone levels.

According to strategic pluralism theory, men may have correspondingly evolved to pursue reproductive strategies that are contingent on their own physical attractiveness. More physically attractive men accrue reproductive benefits from spending more time seeking multiple mating partners and relatively less time investing in offspring. In contrast, the reproductive effort of physically less attractive men, who therefore will not have the same mating opportunities, is better allocated either to investing heavily in accruing resources, or investing in their mates and offspring and spending relatively less time seeking additional mates.

Skin color

Testosterone has been shown to darken skin color in laboratory experiments. In his foreword to Peter Frost's 2005 Fair Women, Dark Men, University of Washington sociologist Pierre L. van den Berghe writes: "Although virtually all cultures express a marked preference for fair female skin, even those with little or no exposure to European imperialism, and even those whose members are heavily pigmented, many are indifferent to male pigmentation or even prefer men to be darker."

According one study (Yee N., 2002), gay men who identify as "Only Tops" tend to prefer lighter-skinned men while gay men who identify as "Only Bottoms" tend to prefer darker-skinned men.

Female physical attractiveness

As a consequence of evolutionary preferences, men tend to be attracted to young (indicative of fertility) and beautiful women with bodily symmetry. Rather than decreasing it, modernity has only increased the emphasis men place on women's looks.

Facial features

Youth

Cross-cultural data shows that the reproductive success of women is tied to their youth and physical attractiveness such as the pre-industrial Sami where the most reproductively successful women were 15 years younger than their man. One study covering 37 cultures showed that, on average, a woman was 2.5 years younger than her male partner, with the age difference in Nigeria and Zambia being at the far extreme of 6.5 to 7.5 years. As men age, they tend to seek a mate who is even younger. In a study performed in the United States, men were found to consider the ideal wife's age to be 16.87 years old. In a study of male penile tumescence, men were found most aroused by pictures of young adult females. According to cultural anthropologist Dr. Paula E. Drew who has held tenured positions at two universities in Iran, "Many (Iranian men) speak openly, with disgust and derision, of the effects of pregnancy and the aging process on the female body." The common explanation for this preference is that men have evolved to be attracted to women with high child-bearing potential and that female fecundity typically declines after the late twenties with female fecundity having declined "markedly" after age 30. In fact, natural population data shows that women's fecundity actually ends at 39–41 years old even though menopause occurs in the mid-50s.

Breasts

A study has shown that men like to look at women's breasts, and another study showed that men prefer symmetrical breasts but some studies show men preferring large, firm breasts, while a contradictory study of British undergraduates found men preferring small breasts on women. Cross-culturally, another study found "high variability" regarding the ideal breast size.

Buttocks

Biological anthropologist, Helen B. Fisher of the Center for Human Evolution Studies in the Department of Anthropology of Rutgers University, said that, "perhaps", "the fleshy, rounded buttocks... attracted males during rear-entry intercourse." Bobbi S. Low et al. of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan, said the female "buttocks evolved in the context of females competing for the attention and parental commitment of powerful resource-controlling males" as an "honest display of fat reserves" that could not be confused with another type of tissue, although T. M. Caro, professor in the Center for Population Biology and the Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, at University of California, Davis, rejected that as being a necessary conclusion, stating that female fatty deposits on the hips improve "individual fitness of the female", regardless of sexual selection.

Body mass

Body Mass Index (BMI) is an important determinant to the perception of beauty. Even though the Western ideal is for a thin woman, some cultures prefer plumper women, so attraction for a particular BMI appears to be merely a cultural artifact. The attraction for a proportionate body also influences an appeal for erect posture.

In the United States, women overestimate men's preferences for thinness in a mate. In one study, American women were asked to choose what their ideal build was and what they thought the build most attractive to men was. Women chose slimmer than average figures for both choices. When American men were independently asked to choose the female build most attractive to them, the men chose figures of average build. This indicates that women may be misled as to how thin men prefer women to be. Some speculate that thinness as a beauty standard is one way in which women judge each other. A reporter surmised that thinness is prized among women as a "sign of independence, strength and achievement." Some implicated the fashion industry for the promulgation of the notion of thinness as attractive.

Waist–hip ratio

Main article: Waist–hip ratio

Ethnic groups vary with regard to their ideal waist-to-hip ratio for women, ranging from 0.6 in China, to 0.8 or 0.9 in parts of South America and Africa, and divergent preferences based on ethnicity, rather than nationality, have also been noted. A cross-cultural analysis that found isolated peoples preferring high WHR (0.9) over a low WHR (0.7) suggested that many such "cross-cultural" tests "may have only reflected the pervasiveness of Western media"; however many evolutionary psychologists believe preference for low WHR is a signal for fertility and biologically based.

Height

Most men tend to be taller than their female partner and it has been found that, in Western societies, most men prefer shorter women, men tend to view taller women as less attractive and men view couples where the woman is taller to be less ideal. Women who are 0.7 to 1.7 standard deviations below the mean female height have been reported to be the most reproductively successful, since fewer tall women get married compared to shorter women.

However, in some non-Western cultures, height is irrelevant in choosing a mate, which suggests that the preference among Western men for women shorter than themselves may be sociocultural in nature.

Leg-to-body ratio

A study using Polish participants by Sorokowski found 5% longer legs than an individual used as a reference was considered most attractive. The study concluded this preference might stem from the influence of leggy runway models. The Sorokowski study was criticized for using a picture of the same person with digitally altered leg lengths which Dr. Marco Bertamini felt were unrealistic.

Another study using British and American participants, found "mid-ranging" leg-to-body ratios to be most ideal.

A study by Swami et al. of American men and women showed a preference for men with legs as long as the rest of their body and women with 40% longer legs than the rest of their body. The researcher concluded that this preference might be influenced by American culture where long leg women are portrayed as more attractive. The Swami et al. study was criticized for using a picture of the same person with digitally altered leg lengths which Marco Bertamini felt were unrealistic. Bertamini also criticized the Swami study for only changing the leg length while keeping the arm length constant. Bertamini's own study which used stick figures mirrored Swami's study, however, by finding a preference for leggier women.

According to some studies, most men prefer women with small feet, such as in ancient China where foot binding was practiced.

Hair

Men have been found to prefer long-haired women. An evolutionary psychology explanation for this is that malnutrition and deficiencies in minerals and vitamins causes loss of hair or hair changes. Hair therefore indicates health and nutrition during the last 2-3 years. Lustrous hair is also often a cross-cultural preference.

One study reported non-Asian men to prefer blondes and Asian men to prefer black-haired women.

Movement patterns

The way an individual moves can indicate health and even age and influence attractiveness.

Skin tone

Main article: Human skin color § Cultural aspects of skin color

A preference for lighter-skinned women has remained prevalent over time, even in cultures without European contact. Anthropologist Peter Frost stated that since higher-ranking men were allowed to marry the perceived more attractive women, who tended to have fair skin, the upper classes of a society generally tended to develop a lighter complexion than the lower classes by sexual selection (see also Fisherian runaway).

Today, skin bleaching is not uncommon in parts of the world such as Africa, and a preference for lighter-skinned women generally holds true for African Americans, Latin Americans, and Asians. One exception to this has been in contemporary Western culture, where tanned skin used to be associated with the sun-exposed manual labor of the lower-class, but has generally been considered more attractive and healthier since the mid-20th century.

Other determinants

There has been research suggesting that women at the "fertile stage" of the menstrual cycle appear more attractive to single unattached men, but it is not clear exactly how this process works.

Possible gender differences for preferences

For both men and women, there appear to be universal criteria of attractiveness both within and across cultures and ethnic groups. Most studies have concluded that men place a higher emphasis on physical attractiveness in a partner than women do, though some claim otherwise. Evolutionary psychology explains this as consequence of ancestral humans who selected partners based on secondary sexual characteristics, as well as general indicators of fitness which allowed for greater reproductive success as a result of higher fertility in those partners, although a male's ability to provide resources for offspring was likely signaled less by physical features. It is argued that the most prominent indicator of fertility in women is youth, while the traits in a man which enhance reproductive success are proxies for his ability to accrue resources and protect.

Studies have shown that women pay greater attention to physical traits than they do directly to earning capability or potential to commit, including muscularity, fitness and masculinity of features; the latter preference was observed to vary during a woman's period, with women preferring more masculine features during the late-follicular (fertile) phase of the menstrual cycle. Additionally, women process physical attractiveness differently, paying attention to both individual features and the aesthetic effect of the whole face. A 2003 study in the area concluded that heterosexual women are about equally aroused when viewing men or women. Heterosexual men were only aroused by women. This study verified arousal in the test subjects by connecting them to brain imaging devices. Notably, the same study reported arousal for women upon viewing animals mating.

Racial bias

People are usually attracted to people who look like them and they usually evaluate faces that exhibit features of their own ethnic or racial group as being more attractive. Although both men and women use children's "facial resemblance" to themselves in "attractiveness judgments," a greater percentage of women in one study (37% n=30) found hypothetical children whose faces were "self-morphs" of themselves as most attractive when compared to men (30% n=23). One report in The Guardian suggested there was a "Caucasian beauty standard" spreading worldwide because of the proliferation of the Western entertainment industry.

Social effects

Perceptions of physical attractiveness contribute to generalized assumptions based on those attractions. Across cultures, what is beautiful is assumed to be good; attractive people are assumed to be more extroverted, popular, and happy. This could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, as from a young age, attractive people receive more attention that helps them develop these characteristics. In one study, beautiful people were found to be generally happier than less beautiful or plain people, perhaps because beauty led to increased economic benefits which partially explained the increased happiness.

However, attractiveness varies by society; in ancient China, a small foot was considered attractive, so foot binding was practiced by confining young girls' feet in tightly bound shoes to prevent the feet from growing to normal size. In England, women used to wear corsets that severely constricted their breathing and damaged vital internal organs, in order to achieve a visual effect of an exaggeratedly low Waist-to-Hip ratio.

People make judgments of physical attractiveness based on what they see, but also on what they know about the person. Specifically, perceptions of beauty are malleable such that information about the person's personality traits can influence one's assessment of another person's physical beauty. A 2007 study had participants first rate pictures for attractiveness. After doing distracting math problems, participants saw the pictures again, but with information about the person's personality. When participants learned that a person had positive personality characteristics (e.g., smart, funny, kind), that person was seen as more physically attractive. Conversely, a person with negative personality characteristics (e.g., materialistic, rude, untrustworthy) was seen as less physically attractive. This was true for both females and males.

Physical attractiveness can have various effects. A survey conducted by London Guildhall University of 11,000 people showed that those who subjectively describe themselves as physically attractive earn more income than others who would describe themselves as less attractive. People who described themselves as less attractive earned, on average, 13% less than those who described themselves as more attractive, while the penalty for being overweight was around 5%. It is important to note that other factors such as self-confidence may explain or influence these findings as they are based on self-reported attractiveness as opposed to any sort of objective criteria; however, as one's self-confidence and self-esteem are largely learned from how one is regarded by his/her peers while maturing, even these considerations would suggest a significant role for physical appearance. One writer speculated that "the distress created in women by the spread of unattainable ideals of female beauty" might possibly be linked to increasing incidence of depression.

Many have asserted that certain advantages tend to come to those who are perceived as being more attractive, including the ability to get better jobs and promotions; receiving better treatment from authorities and the legal system; having more choices in romantic partners and, therefore, more power in relationships; and marrying into families with more money. Men and women use physical attractiveness as a measure of how "good" another person is. Discrimination against or prejudice towards others based on their appearance is sometimes referred to as lookism.

Some researchers conclude that little difference exists between men and women in terms of sexual behavior. Symmetrical men and women have a tendency to begin to have sexual intercourse at an earlier age, to have more sexual partners, to engage in a wider variety of sexual activities, and to have more one-night stands. They are also prone to infidelity and are more likely to have open relationships. Additionally, they have the most reproductive success. Therefore, their physical characteristics are most likely to be inherited by future generations.

Concern for improving physical attractiveness has led many persons to consider alternatives such as cosmetic surgery. It has led scientists working with related disciplines such as computer imaging and mathematics to conduct research to suggest ways to surgically alter a face in terms of distances between facial features, to make it closer to an ideal face with "agreed-upon standards of attractiveness", by using algorithms to suggest an alternative which still resembles the current face. One research study found that cosmetic surgery as a way to "boost earnings" was "not profitable in a monetary sense."

References

Notes

"People: Just Deserts". Time Magazine. May 28, 1945. Retrieved 2011-08-05. ... "the most perfect all-over beauty of all time." Runner-up: the Venus de Milo. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
"SAYS VENUS DE MILO WAS NOT A FLAPPER; Osteopath Says She Was Neurasthenic, as Her Stomach WasNot is Proper Place". The New York Times. April 29, 1922. Retrieved 2011-08-05. Venus de Milo ... That lady of renowned beauty... {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
CBS News Staff (2011-08-05). "Venus". CBS News. Retrieved 2011-08-05. The classical vision of beauty exemplified in Greek art, such as the 2nd century B.C. Venus de Milo (a.k.a. Aphrodite of Milos), was an ideal carried through millennia, laying the basis for much of Western art's depictions of the human form. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Kousser R (2005). "Creating the Past: The Vénus de Milo and the Hellenistic Reception of Classical Greece". American Journal of Archaeology. 109 (2): 227–250.
Lorenz, Kate. (2005). "Do Pretty People Earn More?" www.CNN.com.
Dion K, Berscheid E, Walster E (1972). "What is beautiful is good". J Pers Soc Psychol. 24 (3): 285–90. doi:10.1037/h0033731. PMID 4655540. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Guy Dammann (20 August 2008). "Rules of attraction". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-07-15. scientists from Brunel University have revealed that physical attraction is all down to bodily symmetry. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ SARAH KERSHAW (October 8, 2008). "The Sum of Your Facial Parts". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-07-15. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) Cite error: The named reference "twsO52" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ DAVID J. BERRI (September 16, 2008). "Do Pretty-Boy Quarterbacks Make More Money?". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-07-15. Research, though, has indicated that what we think of as facial attractiveness is really just facial symmetry. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ Edward Willett (October 29, 2008). "A person's face can say a lot: Helen's face is said to have launched a thousand ships, while Medusa's could turn men to stone. And even today we talk about individuals with "a face that can stop a clock."". The Leader-Post (Regina). Retrieved 2011-07-15. "people preferentially mate with, date, associate with, employ, and even vote for physically attractive individuals." ... Symmetry is one trait we find attractive (but only if the face is right-side up: your symmetric face will, alas, do nothing to help you attract a mate if you constantly stand on your head. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ Clare Murphy (4 December, 2003). "In the eye of the beholder?". BBC News. Retrieved 2011-07-15. Art historians, anthropologists and human psychologists in general agree that it is the symmetry of a face, its perfect proportion, or indeed its averageness — where no feature stands out — that has consistently down the ages been deemed attractive. ... {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Oliver Burkeman (24 April 2010). "This column will change your life: The beauty in imperfection". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-07-15. Absolute flawlessness, it's long been observed, is disturbing. It offers no point of connection, and may help explain the "uncanny valley" effect, where almost-lifelike robots trigger revulsion in humans. ... {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ S McKeen (February 10, 2006). "A beauty fix plumps up psyche and overall health". The Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2011-07-15. Evolution taught us to lust after symmetry — a nicely balanced body and face — because asymmetry signals past illness or injury. We therefore define beauty quite elegantly, right down to the most ideal ratio of hips to breasts and upper lip to lower lip. Singh says one study showed that people were able to gauge beauty at a subliminal level, when shown pictures for a mere one-hundredth of a second. Another study showed babies prefer pretty faces. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ Glassenberg AN, Feinberg DR, Jones BC, Little AC, Debruine LM (2010). "Sex-dimorphic face shape preference in heterosexual and homosexual men and women". Arch Sex Behav. 39 (6): 1289–96. doi:10.1007/s10508-009-9559-6. PMID 19830539. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Perrett, D.I.; Lee, K.J.; Penton-Voak, I.S.; Rowland, D.R.; Yoshikawa, S.; Burt, D.M.; Henzi, S.P.; Castles, D.L.; Akamatsu, S.; et al. (1998). "Effects of sexual dimorphism on facial attractiveness". Nature. 394 (6696): 884–7. doi:10.1038/29772. PMID 9732869. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first9= (help)
^ Joanna Briscoe (17 January 2004). "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2011-07-15. Evolutionary psychologists claim there is an underlying standard script for beauty — a foundation for what we find appealing that transcends culture and ethnicity. There are various absolutes. For instance, to judge someone beautiful, the eye requires symmetry. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Daniel Nettle: Women’s height, reproductive success and the evolution of sexual dimorphism in modern humans. The Royal Society. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
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^ Stephen Khan and Roger Dobson (2 October 2005). "A symmetrical face isn't just prettier – it's healthier too". The Independent: Science. London. Retrieved 2010-01-19. For the perfectly proportioned face is also an indication that the body it sits atop is well prepared to fight off infection. The common cold, asthma and flu are all more likely to be combated efficiently by those whose left side matches their right.
^ "Face shape clue to mental decline: Men with symmetrical faces are less likely to lose their memory and intelligence in later life, according to researchers". BBC News. 9 August 2009. Retrieved 2011-07-15. Psychologists at the University of Edinburgh found a link between facial symmetry and mental performance between the ages of 79 and 83. ... {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Tim Radford (17 August 2005). "How women dream of symmetrical men". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-01-19. The research once again confirms a hypothesis that beauty is not merely in the eye of the beholder: it is an indicator of genetic fitness. From a choice of computer-generated faces, volunteers routinely choose the most symmetrical as the most attractive. Physical symmetry is interpreted as a sign of good inheritance. And therefore, the theory goes, women in a position to conceive would be more attracted to someone more likely to engender the healthiest offspring.
Thornhill R, Gangestad SW, Comer R (1995). "Human female orgasm and mate fluctuating asymmetry". Animal Behaviour. 50 (6): 1601–15. doi:10.1016/0003-3472(95)80014-X.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Little AC, Jones BC, Waitt C; et al. (2008). "Symmetry is related to sexual dimorphism in faces: data across culture and species". PLoS ONE. 3 (5): e2106. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002106. PMC 2329856. PMID 18461131. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
^ Nancy Etcoff (2000). Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty. pp. 50–3, 185–7.
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"The laws of sexual attraction". CNN. April 13, 2009. Retrieved 2011-07-25. ... when women are ovulating, they produce copulins, a scent that attracts men.... {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Google Science Fair semi-finalist: I can taste your DNA". The Guardian. 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2011-07-25. the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) is a large gene family found in most vertebrates.... {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ Razib Khan in Genetics (August 16th, 2008). "Taking the pill might make your brother hawt?". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 2011-07-25. Previous studies in animals and humans show that genes in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) influence individual odours and that females often prefer odour of MHC-dissimilar males, perhaps to increase offspring heterozygosity or reduce inbreeding. Women using oral hormonal contraceptives have been reported to have the opposite preference, raising the possibility that oral contraceptives alter female preference towards MHC similarity, with possible fertility costs. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Roberts SC, Little AC, Gosling LM, Perrett DI, Carter V, Jones BC, Penton-Voak I, Petrie M (May 2005). "MHC-heterozygosity and human facial attractiveness". Evol Hum Behav. 26 (3): 213–226. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2004.09.002.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Penn DJ, Damjanovich K, Potts WK (2002). "MHC heterozygosity confers a selective advantage against multiple-strain infections". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99 (17): 11260–4. doi:10.1073/pnas.162006499. PMC 123244. PMID 12177415. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Williams, C. A. (1999). Roman homosexuality: ideologies of masculinity in classical antiquity. Oxford University Press, USA.
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Tall men 'top husband stakes'. BBC News. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
^ Yee, N. (2002). Beyond Tops and Bottoms Correlations between Sex-Role Preference and Physical Preferences for Partners among Gay Men
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^ Dixson AF, Halliwell G, East R, Wignarajah P, Anderson MJ (2003). "Masculine somatotype and hirsuteness as determinants of sexual attractiveness to women" (PDF). Arch Sex Behav. 32 (1): 29–39. PMID 12597270. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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The Selfish Gene
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Men with facial scars more attractive to women
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see Steve Sailer, Blondes Have Deeper Roots (2005)
^ Buss, David (2003) . The Evolution of Desire (second ed.). New York: Basic Books. pp. 51–4. ISBN 0465077501. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
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^ IAN TATTERSALL (book reviewer) Geoffrey Miller (author) (June 11, 2000). "Whatever Turns You On: A psychologist looks at sexual attraction and what it means for humankind". The New York Times: Book Review. Retrieved 2011-07-15. it turns out that symmetry of bodily structure is a fitness indicator, and symmetry is more easily detectable among large breasts than small ones. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Jackson, L. B. (1992). Physical appearance and gender: sociobiological and sociocultural perspectives. State University of New York Press.
^ Fiona Macrae (27th December 2009). "Skin deep: Beautiful faces have Miss Average proportions". Daily Mail. Retrieved 2011-07-31. All were head shots of the same person with different distances from eyes to mouth or between the eyes. She was at her most attractive when the space between her pupils was just under half, or 46 per cent, of the width of her face from ear to ear. The other perfect dimension was when the distance between her eyes and mouth was just over a third, or 36 per cent, of the overall length of her face from hairline to chin. ... {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ Berscheid and Reis, 1998
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Brizendine, Louann (2006). The female brain. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 63. ISBN 978-0-7679-2010-0.
^ Sharon Jayson (March 31, 2011). "Study: Beautiful people cash in on their looks". USA Today. Retrieved 2011-07-15. Numerous studies, including his earlier research, have concluded that beauty helps the budget by providing greater wealth in several ways: Better-looking people generally earn more money and marry those who are better-looking and higher-earning, he says. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
How Big Is Your Limbal Ring? | Psychology Today
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From Cunningham (1986) Research with Western subjects disclosed significant consistency in evaluating attractiveness (Hatfield & Sprecher, 1986; Iliife, 1960). The females judged to be most attractive may have such similar facial features that they were hard to distinguish one from another (Light, Hollander, & Kayra-Stuart, 1981). Cross-cultural investigations on the judgment of facial attractiveness tended to highlight societal differences, but rough agreements in facial aesthetic preferences were shown by Asian-American and Caucasian females (Wagatsuma & Kleinke, 1979), Chinese, Indian, and English females judging Greek males (Thakerar & Iwawaki, 1979), South African and American males and females (Morse, Gruzen, & Reis, 1976), and blacks and whites judging males and females from both races (Cross & Cross, 1971).
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Freedman, R.E. (July 2004). "Ethnic differences in preferences for female weight and waist-to-hip ratio: a comparison of African-American and White American college and community samples". Eat Behav. 5 (3): 191–8. doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2004.01.002. PMID 15135331. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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^ Scar, R. Height and Reproductive Success: How a Gambian Population Compares to the West. Human Nature Winter 2006.
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^ Bereczkei, T. Hair length, facial attractiveness, personality attribution; A multiple fitness model of hairdressing
^ The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology, edited by David M. Buss, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005. Chapter 10 "Physical Attractiveness in Adaptationist Perspective" by Lawrence S. Sugiyama.
^ Peter Frost "Fair Women, Dark Men: The Forgotten Roots of Color Prejudice," (2005).
^ see Steve Sailer, Blondes Have Deeper Roots (2005)
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"What Are "Good Looks"?". Kenyon College. Retrieved 09-08-2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
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Skin whitening big business in Asia | PRI.ORG
Singer, Merrill (28 July 2008). Killer Commodities: Public Health and the Corporate Production of Harm. AltaMira Press. p. 151. ISBN 0759109796. Harris investigated the history of the parasol... everywhere ordinary people were forbidden to protect themselves with such devices "pallid skin became a marker of upper-class status". At the beginning of the 20th Century, in the United States, lighter-skinned people avoided the sun... Tanned skin was considered lower class. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
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Tan is 'In': Study Finds Light Brown More Attractive than Pale or Dark Skin
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^ Buss, David (2003) . The Evolution of Desire (second ed.). New York: Basic Books. pp. 57, 58, 60–63. ISBN 0465077501. {{cite book}}: |format= requires |url= (help)
http://www.springerlink.com/content/u31kx42472756022/ Physical attractiveness and its relationship to sex-role stereotyping, Daniel Bar-Tal and Leonard Saxe
http://www.springerlink.com/content/w347l70332j1n087/ Sex differences in factors of romantic attraction, Jeffrey S. Nevid
http://www.youbeauty.com/relationships/women-body-shape, excerpted from Psychology of Physical Attraction.
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^ Abigail Trafford, Andrew Cherlin (March 6, 2001). "Second Opinion: Men's Health & Marriage". Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-11-06. The major reason for the imbalance between men and women in the later decades of life is because men tend to marry younger women as they get older.
Women drawn to men with muscles
Menstrual cycle, trait estrogen level, and masculinity preferences in the human voice
Women's choice of men goes in cycles
How Ladies Size Up Facial Attractiveness
Study on differences in Male, Female sexuality. June 2003
Federally funded study measures arousal
New York Times. "What do women want?" Study on human sexuality
ScienceDaily. "Study Suggests Difference Between Female And Male Sexuality"
(Locke & Horowitz, 1990).
DeBruine LM (May 2004). "Resemblance to self increases the appeal of child faces to both men and women". Evol Hum Behav. 25 (3): 142–154. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2004.03.003.
^ Cash TF, Gillen B, Burns DS (June 1977). "Sexism and beautyism in personnel consultant decision making". Journal of Applied Psychology. 62 (3): 301–310. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.62.3.301.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Clark, M.S.; & Mills, J. (1979)
Jonathan E. Berman (letter to the editor) (November 30, 1993). "Understand Female Genital Mutilation, Yes, but Don't Condone It". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-11-06. The desired mark of beauty, put in plain language, was a set of withered or amputated toes at the end of crippled feet, which were jammed into the smallest possible slipper. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
Lewandowski, Gary; Aron, Art; Gee, Julie (2007). "Personality goes a long way: The malleability of opposite-sex physical attractiveness". Personal Relationships. 14 (4): 571–585. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2007.00172.x.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/Careers/07/08/looks/ Do Pretty People Earn More from cnn.com
Daniel Goleman (December 8, 1992). "A Rising Cost Of Modernity: Depression". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-11-06. Competing explanations range from a loss of beliefs in God or an afterlife that can buffer people against life's setbacks, to the stresses of industrialization, to the distress created in women by the spread of unattainable ideals of female beauty, to exposure to toxic substances.
De Santis, A; and Kayson, W.A. 1999
Science rewrites the rules of attraction
Cowley, Geoffrey. "The Biology of beauty." Newsweek. June 3, 1996
Sexual atrractiveness predicted by voice attractiveness
Rhodes, Gillian (2002). Facial Attractiveness – Evolutionary, Cognitive, and Social Perspectives. Ablex. ISBN 1567506364. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
Edler RJ (2001). "Background considerations to facial aesthetics". J Orthod. 28 (2): 159–68. PMID 11395532. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
Zaidel DW, Aarde SM, Baig K (2005). "Appearance of symmetry, beauty, and health in human faces". Brain Cogn. 57 (3): 261–3. doi:10.1016/j.bandc.2004.08.056. PMID 15780460. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Evolution producing more 'beautiful' women

v t e Aesthetics
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Concepts	Appropriation Art for art's sake Art manifesto Artistic merit Avant-garde Beauty Feminine Masculine Camp Comedy Creativity Cuteness Depiction Disgust Ecstasy Elegance Emotions Entertainment Eroticism Fashion Fun Gaze Harmony Humour Interpretation Judgment Kama Kitsch Life imitating art Magnificence Mimesis Perception Picturesque Quality Rasa Recreation Reverence Style Sublime Taste Tragedy Work of art
Works	Hippias Major (c. 390 BC) Poetics (c. 335 BC) The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons (c. 100) On the Sublime (c. 500) A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757) Lectures on Aesthetics (1835) "The Critic as Artist" (1891) In Praise of Shadows (1933) Art as Experience (1934) "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935) "Avant-Garde and Kitsch" (1939) Critical Essays (1946) The Aesthetic Dimension (1977) Why Beauty Matters (2009)
Related	Aestheticization of politics Applied aesthetics Arts criticism Axiology Evolutionary aesthetics Mathematical beauty Neuroesthetics Patterns in nature Philosophy of design Philosophy of film Philosophy of music Psychology of art Theory of art
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Revision as of 02:58, 19 August 2011

Male physical attractiveness

Facial attractiveness

Sexual dimorphism

Symmetry

Body scent

Genetics

Youth

Waist-to-chest ratio

Genitalia

Height and erect posture

Hairiness

Variability in preferences

Skin color

Female physical attractiveness

Facial features

Youth

Breasts

Buttocks

Body mass

Waist–hip ratio

Height

Leg-to-body ratio

Hair

Movement patterns

Skin tone

Other determinants

Possible gender differences for preferences

Racial bias

Social effects

See also

References