Perceived health contributes to the attractiveness of facial symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism - PubMed
Symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism (femininity in female faces, masculinity in male faces) are attractive in faces. Many have suggested that preferences for these traits may be adaptations for identifying healthy mates. If they are, then the traits should be honest indicators of health...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
This study by Gillian Rhodes et al. (2007) explores how perceived health influences the attractiveness of three key facial traits: symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism (femininity in female faces and masculinity in male faces). The research tests whether these traits are attractive because they signal health, using large samples of Western and Japanese faces.
Key Findings:
- Symmetry's appeal is largely due to perceived health – When controlling for perceived health, most of the link between symmetry and attractiveness disappeared. This suggests that people find symmetrical faces attractive primarily because they associate them with good health.
- Averageness and sexual dimorphism also benefit from a healthy appearance – While perceived health contributed to their attractiveness, it did not fully explain why people prefer more faces with averageness or sexually dimorphic traits.
- Mate choice adaptation hypothesis – The findings support the idea that people have evolved to prefer facial traits that signal health, which could have been advantageous in mate selection.
