Scientists identified facial features that people most often consider attractive
An international group of researchers analyzed hundreds of three-dimensional models of human faces and discovered which of their features are most often associated with attractiveness. The authors emphasize that it's not about an ideal face, but about a combination of features that most people evaluate in a similar way.
Left — Australian actress Margot Robbie, right — British model David Gandy. According to Daily Mail journalists, their facial features are closest to the average models of female and male faces that the experiment participants rated as most attractive. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org, Instagram page
How beautiful a human face appears depends on personal tastes, culture, and life experience. However, a study, highlighted by the Daily Mail, shows that there are also quite stable patterns in the assessment of attractiveness.
Scientists from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens studied 601 young people. Each participant underwent a three-dimensional facial scan.
To obtain the most accurate picture, researchers marked 716 landmarks on each model, which allowed comparing the overall face shape, and not just individual parameters, such as nose width or chin length.
Afterward, six independent experts — three men and three women — rated each face on a scale from 0 to 100 points.
The analysis showed that female faces receiving the highest ratings were generally narrower, with reduced fullness in the cheek area, a narrower nose with a slightly protruding tip, and fuller lips.
Three-dimensional models of female faces that received (from left to right) the lowest, average, and highest attractiveness ratings in the study. The last two columns show the result of superimposing the average models of the least and most attractive faces, as well as a map of the differences between them: red and blue zones reflect the areas where the face shape differs the most. Source: Article materials / Progress in Orthodontics.
Overall, a higher attractiveness rating was associated with a more angular face shape, defined contours, and less fullness of the soft tissues of the face. The exception was the upper lip, which, on the contrary, was fuller and slightly more prominent.
Three-dimensional models of male faces that received (from left to right) the lowest, average, and highest attractiveness ratings in the study. The last two columns show the result of superimposing the average models of the least and most attractive faces, as well as a map of the differences between them: red and blue zones reflect the areas where the face shape differs the most. Source: Article materials / Progress in Orthodontics.
For men, the correlation was less pronounced. Nevertheless, faces with a more defined shape, a distinct chin, and an angular profile more often received high ratings.
According to the authors, attractiveness is not determined by any single "ideal" feature — nose, jaw, or chin. What matters is how different elements combine with each other.
"We often think that beauty is entirely subjective, but decades of research show that people surprisingly often agree on which faces they find attractive," noted one of the study's authors, Georgios Kanavakis.
The researchers also remind that physical attractiveness can influence many aspects of life — from first impressions and acquaintances to professional opportunities and romantic relationships.
In their opinion, the study results can help specialists involved in aesthetic facial correction better understand which features people commonly consider attractive.