This is the most attractive face in the world, according to science…
Some research suggests there’s a formula for beauty.
So can attractiveness be defined by our age, gender, colour, body shape or size?
And who gets to decide?
Can We Define Beauty?
The Oxford Dictionary defines beauty as “A combination of qualities, such as shape, colour,
or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses.”
And there's lots of popular definitions too.
You’ve probably heard someone say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” – this
saying dates back to at least the third century BC.
But it’s kind of a myth when it comes to science.
Lots of studies indicate that people agree about what an attractive face looks like across
different ethnic groups and cultures.
So what makes a face attractive?
One answer lies in mathematics.
In the late 1800s, English anthropologist Francis Galton wondered if certain groups
of people had certain facial characteristics.
So he took some photos and created composite images of the faces of criminals.
And vegetarians.
Which is a completely bizarre pairing.
He found that the composite images were more attractive than the individual ones.
And around the same time American Psychologist J.T.
Stoddard found the same effect with composite images of students.
Many studies in the 90s found that participants had a strong preference for a face averaged
from the faces of 32 people – compared to one averaged from 16, 8, 4 or 2 faces.
And while these studies were largely done with Caucasian faces, people agreed on attractiveness
scores in India, China, Nigeria and New Zealand.
So… it’s actually better to be average looking.
…Mathematically average.
We average out all of the faces we see on a daily basis so in our brains we have a representation
of what an average human face looks like.
We’re genetically driven to prefer looking at faces that are just average.
That idea is that these faces are easier for our brain to process.
They’re what we expect a face to look like, so we find them pleasing.
Even babies agree.
Studies have found that 6 month old infants show a preference to look at mathematically
average faces.
And when you look at someone’s face, you probably don’t realise that you compare
both sides of the face.
Perfect symmetry in the human body is said to be attractive too.
Evolutionary biologists say it signals that person has good genes.
Beyond your face, your waist to hip ratio matters too.
A ratio of 0.9 in men’s bodies has been considered the most attractive and in women’s,
a ratio of 0.7 was rated most attractive across cultures.
It’s another indicator of reproductive health.
And an Australian study found that women prefer men with heavy stubble, over those with a
clean-shaven face or a full beard.
Another Swiss study found that females are more attracted to men who have a significantly
different set of immune system genes.
Is the most attractive face one that is perfectly symmetrical, in the correct ratio and more
average?
And if it’s a guy, with heavy stubble?
Or on a female body with a perfect waist to hip ratio?
Charles Darwin famously said “If everyone were cast in the same mould, there would be
no such thing as beauty.”
Because we mathematically average out the faces that we see, we remember those with
a different face more often.
Think people with big eyes, or a big nose or really sharp cheekbones.
Perhaps we’re more likely to say these people are beautiful because they’re different.
And averaging a two dimensional image of something we normally perceive in 3 dimensions isn’t
entirely accurate.
But science assumes things that are good biologically are what we’re into aesthetically.
In her book Survival of the Prettiest, Nancy Etcoff points out that our genes don’t care
about human happiness, but people do.
And the person best able to carry your genes on may not be the person you most enjoy spending
your days with.
The question of “Can We Define Beauty?” is pretty, hugely, complicated.
Perhaps you already know that.
We’ve been trying to define it for thousands of years.
Science, art, the media and you all have their different definitions, but ultimately it’s
subjective.
Some studies can suggest why we’re attracted to certain people, except they can’t explain
everything.
Perhaps no definition can capture beauty entirely.
Francis Bacon wrote “That is the best part of beauty, which a picture cannot express.”
See you next Thursday.
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