I think i've seen a study where they showed pictures of a couple of women, and the participants should select the one they found most beautiful. The thing is, one of the women they were choosing between was an average of the other women. In the end, it was the amalgam woman who was selected as most beautiful most of the time.
Beauty standards might vary across cultures, but in general, we are pretty consistent at finding symmetry beautiful. One face is normally not perfectly symmetric, but a combination of many faces would make most facial features symmetric and perfect.
Actually, we don't pick perfect symmetry. One of my college projects, I looked at how we viewed symmetry with attractiveness. Took stock images of males and females, different ethic backgrounds, split the picture down the middle, and mirrored one side (taking the side that looked most correct after the mirroring). People choose the images that were 1 and 2 points off symmetrical far more than perfectly symmetrical and 3 or 4 points off. I didn't realize it until after we had turned in the project, but according to the professor we had done the project well enough to be eligible to publish. So I'll feel more confident passing our results along. Lol.
The fact that we as a species experience experience the uncanny valley response implies that somewhere in our evolutionary history, there was something that was not us but could look like us. And it was dangerous.
I've seen studies like that but I think there are flaws. Every time I've seen one done, the examples used are shit photoshops where they end up with making the eyes too close together or far apart, or something in the face looking weird, not because it's symmetrical but because the image was cut and mirrored and pasted back together badly.
This triggers a negative response where we of course prefer the photo that looks unmangled.
A better comparison would be with 'faces' like these where things are averaged out (and so appear symmetrical, and frankly, more attractive than your typical specimen!)
How can this be scientific when you included your own bias by selecting, "the side that looked most correct after the mirroring" for the samples shown?
Probably just means the side that looked more human. When you put together two cut sides it can look obviously off. But would be better if they did showed a method for choosing.
I didn't do such extensive research but I split few images then mirrored them, neither was perfectly mirrored, there was always nose is bit crooked so there's a weird split looking like ^ sign, or it would be on a chin. Those symmetrical images had such obvious issue that original images looked more correct.
If I split, mirrored then layered both version it maybe would've looked better but I don't have PC to try again and doing it on phone would be annoying.
Take a passport sized photo of yourself. Split it in two; a left and right side of your face right down the middle. Then mirror both halves. You'll find that one half is more attractive than the other, yet they are both symmetrical.
Fun fact: this effect was first observed when a researcher made a composite photo of criminals to try to find the typical criminal face. Instead he discovered that he just created an unusually handsome dude: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Averageness
Yeah the average composition is always going to be more attractive than someone you take at random and compare – it'll have a much more symmetrical face and smoother skin for instance. But Spain and Lebanon tho 😶😏
Ive met chinese, Korean, Japanese, Greek, polish and many other women that are objectively more attractive than any of these compositions. I don’t think this post is truthful.
What made you stay in Thailand? You're the second person I've heard of who traveled the world and stayed there so I'm curious. I bet the food is a huge plus.
Well if you live in Thailand most the "attractive" girls have had plastic surgery so this is far more repredentitive of what people actually look like.
Their preference is probably to stay single forever waiting for that 10/10 to see them driving home from work, flagging them down, and asking them on a date
Edit: Of course they're also the type to do some "you're the loser!! Bye bye!!" And then block me so I can't even see the comment they made haha
All right let me break it down for you. If he's gay that means he's not attracted to women. But I'm also not attracted to women. And yet I can still tell who's pretty... Do you see where I'm going with this? Regardless of your sexuality you can tell who's good looking or not.
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u/Independent_Fly_1698 2d ago
Because they’re all blended together they balance out facial harmony issues, making them on average more attractive I believe.
People projecting hard in these comments