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She is not a beauty even when she smiles: Possible evolutionary basis for a relationship between facial attractiveness and hemispheric specialization

Zaidel, Dahlia. W. and Chen, Audrey and German, Craig (1995) She is not a beauty even when she smiles: Possible evolutionary basis for a relationship between facial attractiveness and hemispheric specialization. [Journal (Paginated)]

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Abstract

The asymmetrical status of facial beauty has rarely been investigated. We studied positive facial characteristics, attractiveness and smiling, through the use of left-left and right-right composites of unfamiliar faces of women and men with natural expressions. Results showed that women's right-right composites were judged significantly more attractive than left-left composites while there was no left-right difference in men's composites (Experiment 1). On the other hand, left-left composites were judged to have more pronounced smiling expressions than right-right composites in both women's and men's faces (Experiment 2). The results confirm previous findings for leftward facial expressiveness and show for the first time asymmetry in facial attractiveness and a difference in its manifestation in women's and men's faces. The findings have biological implications for the relationship between the appearance of the sides of the face and hemispheric specialization. The organization of beauty in the human face may have been shaped by evolutionary pressures on facial asymmetries, especially as they pertain to mate selection.

Item Type:Journal (Paginated)
Keywords:evolution, symmetry, mate selection, face symmetry, face asymmetry, beauty, evolutionary fitness, sex differences, brain asymmetry, hemispheric specialization, functional asymmetry, sex, art, creativity, expressions, facial expressions, emotional expressions, left and right, sides of the brain, left and right sides of the face, left and right halves of the face, face and brain, facial processing in the brain, left hemisphere, right hemisphere, face, sexual selection, human.
Subjects:Neuroscience > Behavioral Neuroscience
Biology > Evolution
ID Code:185
Deposited By: Zaidel, Dahlia W.
Deposited On:28 Mar 2000
Last Modified:11 Mar 2011 08:53

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