www.dailyrecord.co.uk/life/women/2010/10/28/beauty-really-is-in-eye-of-the-beholder-when-it-comes-to-attractive-faces-says-expert-86908-22663914/
Beauty really is in eye of the beholder when it comes to attractive faces, says expertOct 28 2010 By Samantha Booth
WHAT makes one face more attractive than another?
That's the question David Perrett attempts to answer in his new book.
Reassuringly, the St Andrews University professor says that, for humans, beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
He explained: "The good news is that there really is someone for everyone out there.
"That's the main message I would really like people to take away from this book.
"Traditional accounts of attractiveness point to such things as facial symmetry but, while I acknowledge that these facts are important, they are not the be-all and end-all of attraction.
"If they were, we would all be chasing after the same people.
"Beauty is, thankfully, much more egalitarian than what we see in some of the fashion magazines."
Professor Perrett said human attraction to faces has driven the evolution of our species for millions of years.
But only recently have scientists begun to unravel its mysteries.
In one chapter, he looks at how the perception of beauty comes from facial symmetry and what he calls averageness.
He added that humans need to have an awareness of what is normal for a face in order to be able to define what is beautiful.
But despite some basic rules, people still have hugely varying opinions of what they consider appealing.
He said: "Attraction can be influenced by family, peer group and even status. It is also impacted by preference to personality characteristics."
But some qualities can be a mixed blessing.
Femininity in a women's face is universally admired but, for a man, a strong, masculine face can have a downside.
According to David's research, women see men with overtly masculine faces - such as actor
Gerard Butler - as indicating strength, power and dominance.
But those attractive qualities can lead to mistrust because women believe such men could be capable of infidelity.
Facial attraction is also hugely influenced by family.
It appears that men and women often look for something familiar to them in a partner.
In other words, they are on the lookout for a mate who reminds them facially of either their mum or their dad. There have been many celebrity couples for who this seems to be the case.
These include Jennifer Aniston and her ex Brad Pitt, Queen guitarist Brian May and his actress wife Anita Dobson, or Johnny Depp and any of his former girlfriends including Winona Ryder and Kate Moss, or his now wife Vanessa Paradis.
But while a girl's good looks seem to be determined by the attractiveness of her parents, a boy's looks do not seem so affected by his family history.
For example, think of Yasmin and Simon Le Bon's model daughter Amber, or Goldie Hawn's daughter Kate Hudson.
And then consider the differences between Rod Stewart's children with former model Alana Stewart.
Model Kimberly has obviously inherited all her mother's good looks, while her brother Sean is left somewhat lacking in the looks department despite his genes.
David said: "Women, in particular, showed a history of attractiveness going down the family line, an attractiveness which was stable when you followed a baby girl into an adult. You could make predictions from early on about how they would turn out but the same doesn't really apply to boys.
"I think it is because of the ambiguous feelings women have towards masculinity.
"It is handed down from father to son and it really is a mixed blessing.
"Many women think masculinity is a marker for infidelity, which means they differ greatly on how much they like masculinity.
"This means you can't make general conclusions about a male's attractiveness.
"So, because of that, attractive male off spring can be found in any family, regardless of what the parents are like.
"And even during development, masculinity in a baby boy is not seen as a good thing.
"It is generally seen as less attractive and the baby is considered to be less cute than others. Over time, though, it does become less of a handicap, as the masculine qualities can mark a man out for leadership roles."
Interestingly, Professor Perrett also discovered that looking healthy is far more important to being considered attractive than the usual markers of beauty, such as symmetry.
In fact, he says that the best way to try to boost our levels of facial appeal to a potential partner is to eat healthily, exercise and avoid excessive smoking and drinking.
He also found that having a face filled with character was an advantage.
For this reason, he warned that anti-ageing plastic surgery techniques designed to eradicate laughter lines and wrinkles do not actually help anyone up their attractiveness.
Professor Perrett said: "Inner beauty is more important because it is that which often reflects a person's personality.
"If you ask people what's important in a partner, personality comes really high up the list.
"When we get to know someone and find out how social or generous they are, we actually end up thinking them attractive.
"Certainly symmetry counts for something, but there are much bigger markers of attractiveness and looking healthy is one of them.
"It gives you the obvious signs which make a person appealing, such as clear skin, bright eyes and good hair.
"But we also discovered that fruit and vegetable consumption is in direct correlation with how healthy a face looks.
"In a man, for example, face shape can count for very little but the skin colouration does and that can be influenced by healthy living.
"Of course, people do end up with the face they deserve as well. If you are happy go lucky then you are likely to get smile lines when you get older, whereas if you are always worried you will get furrows in your forehead.
"So we do end up with a face which predominately reflects our character.
"That is why it is a shame that people go down the plastic surgery route to erase the markers of age.
"People can see beyond age to the person and find that person attractive, especially if they have a shared history.
"People also like to see the markers like laughter lines because it is indicative of the kind of person the other person is."
In Your Face: The New Science of Human Attraction, is now available from Palgrave and Macmillan for £14.99.