Further evidence that averageness and femininity, rather than symmetry and masculinity, predict facial attractiveness judgments

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Lee, Pengting and Li, Jingheng and Rafiee, Yasaman and Jones, Benedict C. and Shiramizu, Victor K. M. (2025) Further evidence that averageness and femininity, rather than symmetry and masculinity, predict facial attractiveness judgments. Scientific Reports, 15 (1). 5498. ISSN 2045-2322 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-86974-0)

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Abstract

Facial attractiveness influences important social outcomes and most studies investigating possible predictors of facial attractiveness have tested for effects of shape symmetry, averageness (i.e., the converse of distinctiveness), and sexual dimorphism (i.e., masculinity–femininity). These studies have typically either tested for these possible effects by experimentally manipulating shape characteristics in faces images or have tested only for bivariate correlations between shape characteristics and attractiveness judgments. However, these two approaches have been criticised for lacking ecological validity and providing little insight into the independent contributions of symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism, respectively. Moreover, the few studies that have investigated the independent contributions of symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism have reported mixed results. Here we measured shape symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism from face images and assessed their independent contribution to attractiveness ratings. Linear mixed effects models showed that facial attractiveness was significantly predicted by averageness in male and female faces and femininity in female faces, but not by masculinity in male faces or symmetry. These results are consistent with other recent work suggesting that averageness and femininity, rather than symmetry and masculinity, predict facial attractiveness.

ORCID iDs

Lee, Pengting, Li, Jingheng, Rafiee, Yasaman ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5958-7876, Jones, Benedict C. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7777-0220 and Shiramizu, Victor K. M. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1669-2163;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)