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The Evolutionary Psychology of Facial Beauty

The Evolutionary Psychology of Facial Beauty What makes a face attractive and why do we have the preferences we do? Emergence of preferences early in development and cross-cultural agreement on attractiveness challenge a long-held view that our preferences reflect arbitrary standards of beauty set by cultures. Averageness, symmetry, and sexual dimorphism are good candidates for biologically based standards of beauty. A critical review and meta-analyses indicate that all three are attractive in both male and female faces and across cultures. Theorists have proposed that face preferences may be adaptations for mate choice because attractive traits signal important aspects of mate quality, such as health. Others have argued that they may simply be by-products of the way brains process information. Although often presented as alternatives, I argue that both kinds of selection pressures may have shaped our perceptions of facial beauty. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Annual Review of Psychology Annual Reviews

The Evolutionary Psychology of Facial Beauty

Annual Review of Psychology , Volume 57 – Jan 10, 2006

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References (181)

Publisher
Annual Reviews
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved
ISSN
0066-4308
eISSN
1545-2085
DOI
10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190208
pmid
16318594
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

What makes a face attractive and why do we have the preferences we do? Emergence of preferences early in development and cross-cultural agreement on attractiveness challenge a long-held view that our preferences reflect arbitrary standards of beauty set by cultures. Averageness, symmetry, and sexual dimorphism are good candidates for biologically based standards of beauty. A critical review and meta-analyses indicate that all three are attractive in both male and female faces and across cultures. Theorists have proposed that face preferences may be adaptations for mate choice because attractive traits signal important aspects of mate quality, such as health. Others have argued that they may simply be by-products of the way brains process information. Although often presented as alternatives, I argue that both kinds of selection pressures may have shaped our perceptions of facial beauty.

Journal

Annual Review of PsychologyAnnual Reviews

Published: Jan 10, 2006

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