Female attractiveness in terms of certain facial features and shape

Abstract

Female beauty in terms of facial attractiveness has been a subject of many studies in the past decades. However, which facial features affect the rating of attractiveness is still a matter of debate. Human face reflects physiological status, sexual dimorphism, genetic patterns and certain individual features that make it unique. The authors investigated facial features in a sample of 127 female subjects and 36 male viewers (medical students aged between 19-20 years) that rated attractiveness by using a questionnaire. Classical and geometric morphometries allowed us to measure and localize the differences in terms of shape between women considered attractive or average by their male colleagues. A number of 24 surface landmarks were digitized on frontal view digital photographs of the subjects. The obtained sets of landmarks were analyzed by means of geometric morphometries and the average female face was compared to the average attractive face. Attractiveness was proved to be associated with fluctuating asymmetry and differences in shape of the regions that are subject to sexual dimorphism (middle and lower face). Big eyes, small nose, gracile chin and larger lips are features that characterize attractive women while shape changes that are associated with a masculine face (pronounced lower face, elongated forehead) make a woman unattractive. Symmetry is strongly associated with attractiveness as symmetrical faces tend to be preferred by male reviewers. Asymmetry implies moving away from the average and that is why it is related to unattractiveness. Our findings could offer a hint on physically explaining the "first sight" reaction when meeting a person. Keywords: facial attractiveness, geometric morphometries, sexual dimorphism.