Attractive Faces Are Only Average

@article{Langlois1990AttractiveFA,
  title={Attractive Faces Are Only Average},
  author={Judith H. Langlois and Lori A Roggman},
  journal={Psychological Science},
  year={1990},
  volume={1},
  pages={115 - 121}
}
Scientists and philosophers have searched for centuries for a parsimonious answer to the question of what constitutes beauty. We approached this problem from both an evolutionary and information-processing rationale and predicted that faces representing the average value of the population would be consistently judged as attractive. To evaluate this hypothesis, we digitized samples of male and female faces, mathematically averaged them, and had adults judge the attractiveness of both the… Expand
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Beauty is in the ease of the beholding: A neurophysiological test of the averageness theory of facial attractiveness
TLDR
Novel evidence is provided that faces are perceived as being attractive when they approximate a facial configuration close to the population average, and it is suggested that processing fluency underlies preferences for attractive faces. Expand
Article Commentary: Averaged Faces Are Attractive, but Very Attractive Faces Are Not Average
In a recent article, Langlois and Roggman (1990) argue that “attractive faces are only average” and support this theory with composite faces produced by digitized image processing. While we agree… Expand
The Attractiveness of Nonface Averages: Implications for an Evolutionary Explanation of the Attractiveness of Average Faces
TLDR
A strong relationship between averageness and attractiveness for dogs, wristwatches, and birds is found and the most parsimonious explanation is that humans have a general attraction to prototypical exemplars, and their attraction to average faces is a reflection of this more general attraction. Expand
Two Faces of Attractiveness
TLDR
To the knowledge, no published study has indicated that averaging produced a face that was less attractive than the original faces from which it was generated. Expand
The Attractiveness of Average Faces is not a Generalized Mere Exposure Effect
Abstract Averaged composite faces, created by blending sets of faces, are surprisingly attractive. Here we consider whether a generalized mere exposure effect contributes to their appeal.… Expand
Dissociating averageness and attractiveness: attractive faces are not always average.
TLDR
The authors systematically test the averageness hypothesis in 5 experiments using both rating and visual adaptation paradigms and conclusively support the proposal that there are specific nonaverage characteristics that are particularly attractive. Expand
Individual Aesthetic Preferences for Faces Are Shaped Mostly by Environments, Not Genes
TLDR
The large impact of experience on individual face preferences provides a novel window into the evolution and architecture of the social brain, while lending new empirical support to the long-standing claim that environments shape individual notions of what is attractive. Expand
Preference for Averageness in Faces Does Not Generalize to Non-Human Primates
TLDR
The study suggests that the preference for averageness in faces does not generalize to non-human primates, and the average face likely plays a role in face recognition rather than in judgments of facial attractiveness. Expand
Humans judge faces in incomplete photographs as physically more attractive
TLDR
The hypothesis that people fill in the missing information with positive inferences when judging others’ facial beauty is tested, showing that—relative to complete photographs—participants judge faces in incomplete photographs as physically more attractive. Expand
What Is Average and What Is Not Average About Attractive Faces?
We reported in this journal (Langlois & Roggman, 1990) findings showing that attractive faces are those that represent the mathematical average of faces in a population These findings were intriguing… Expand
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References

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