tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/facial-symmetry-11968/articlesFacial symmetry – The Conversation2022-07-24T20:01:33Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1870182022-07-24T20:01:33Z2022-07-24T20:01:33ZDoes Amber Heard really have the world’s most beautiful face? An expert explains why the Golden Ratio test is bogus<p>Amber Heard has one of the world’s most beautiful faces – that is, <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/beauty/83807166/plastic-surgeon-dr-julian-de-silva-identifies-the-worlds-most-wanted-female-face">according</a> to cosmetic surgeon Julian De Silva. The claim has been <a href="https://torontosun.com/entertainment/celebrity/physical-perfection-amber-heards-face-deemed-one-of-worlds-most-beautiful">recycled</a> for some years now, and recently resurfaced in the wake of Heard’s (widely reported) trial with ex-husband Johnny Depp. </p>
<p>But what is this claim based on? </p>
<p>Well, according to De Silva, Heard rates highly on the “Golden Ratio test”. This test rates a person’s facial beauty based on how close their facial proportions are to the Golden Ratio. But is it really a formula for beauty?</p>
<h2>The Pythagoreans and the Golden Ratio</h2>
<p>The Pythagoreans first discovered the Golden Ratio, also called the “Divine Proportion”, about 2,400 years ago. It’s a mathematical value called “phi”, represented by the Greek symbol φ, and equal to about 1.618.</p>
<p>The Pythagoreans were a mystic cult of mathematicians who saw many numbers as having mystical, philosophical and even ethical significance. They chose the pentagram as their symbol. With its five-fold symmetries, it symbolised <a href="https://archive.org/details/greekgeometryfro00allmuoft/page/n31/mode/2up">health</a> to them.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474425/original/file-20220717-16-kdeyk8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474425/original/file-20220717-16-kdeyk8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474425/original/file-20220717-16-kdeyk8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474425/original/file-20220717-16-kdeyk8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474425/original/file-20220717-16-kdeyk8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474425/original/file-20220717-16-kdeyk8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474425/original/file-20220717-16-kdeyk8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pentagrams contain the Golden Ratio φ.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Pentagrams are mathematically fascinating, not least because they evince the curious ratio φ. In the pentagram pictured, the four bolded black lines grow in length by φ at each step. So the long horizontal line is φ longer than the bolded side length.</p>
<p>Similarly, consider six circles of the same size, arranged in two rows of three, and nestled inside one large circle (as pictured). The radius of the large circle is φ times larger than the diameter of the small circles.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475423/original/file-20220721-1264-twsznr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475423/original/file-20220721-1264-twsznr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475423/original/file-20220721-1264-twsznr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475423/original/file-20220721-1264-twsznr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475423/original/file-20220721-1264-twsznr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475423/original/file-20220721-1264-twsznr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475423/original/file-20220721-1264-twsznr.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=694&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">φ is present in this assortment of circles.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Golden Ratio is also related to the famous Fibonacci number <a href="https://www.parabola.unsw.edu.au/2020-2029/volume-56-2020/issue-1/article/fibonacci-numbers-brief-history-and-counting-problems">sequence</a> (which goes 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 …). The ratios between one number and the next grow closer and closer to φ as the numbers get bigger. For instance: 13/8 = 1.625, 21/13 = 1.615, 34/21 = 1.619 and so on.</p>
<p>Fibonacci numbers and their Golden Ratio are surprisingly prevalent in <a href="https://www.cut-the-knot.org/do_you_know/GoldenRatio.shtml">maths</a>. They also <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0200601">appear</a> in <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/660456.Fascinating_Fibonaccis_">nature</a>, creating pretty spirals in some flowers, pine cones and the whirling arms of certain galaxies.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474999/original/file-20220720-27-79gmsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474999/original/file-20220720-27-79gmsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474999/original/file-20220720-27-79gmsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474999/original/file-20220720-27-79gmsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474999/original/file-20220720-27-79gmsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474999/original/file-20220720-27-79gmsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474999/original/file-20220720-27-79gmsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fibonacci numbers are found in the sunflower (helianthus) whorl.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">L. Shyamal/Wikimedia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Plato’s realm of ideals</h2>
<p>Influenced by the Pythagoreans and their love of beautiful maths, Greek philosopher Plato (423-347 BC) proposed the physical world is an imperfect projection of a more beautiful and “real” realm of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Plato">truth and ideals</a>. After all, no <em>perfect</em> triangles or pentagrams exists in real life.</p>
<p>According to Plato, these truths and ideals can only be glimpsed in the physical world via logical reasoning, or by creating symmetry and order, through which they might shine.</p>
<p>This greatly influenced Western thinking, including modern science and its presumption of universal laws of nature – such as Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion, or Albert Einstein’s equation for special relativity: E = mc<sup>2</sup> . </p>
<p>One promoter of Plato’s ideas was Renaissance mathematician Luca Pacioli. In 1509, Pacioli published a written trilogy on the Golden Ratio, titled Divina Proportione, with illustrations by Leonardo da Vinci. This widely influential work ignited the first bout of popular interest in the Golden Ratio.</p>
<p>It also promoted the Platonic idea that human bodies should ideally satisfy certain divine mathematical proportions. Da Vinci expressed this ideal in his famous illustration The Vitruvian Man. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474426/original/file-20220717-4540-v47a7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474426/original/file-20220717-4540-v47a7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474426/original/file-20220717-4540-v47a7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474426/original/file-20220717-4540-v47a7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474426/original/file-20220717-4540-v47a7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=744&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474426/original/file-20220717-4540-v47a7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=744&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474426/original/file-20220717-4540-v47a7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=744&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s thought The Vitruvian Man was finished aound 1490 AD, some 1,800 years after Plato’s death.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Illustration by Leonardo da Vinci</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The myth of the Golden Ratio in ancient art</h2>
<p>Adolph Zeising, in his books published between 1854 and 1884, expanded on this idea. In his final book, Der Goldne Schnitt, he claimed all of the most beautiful and fundamental proportions relate to the Golden Ratio, not only in bodies but also in nature, art, music and architecture. This led to the popular assertion that ancient Greek art and architecture featured the Golden Ratio and were therefore beautiful.</p>
<p>But as Mario Livio describes in his book The Golden Ratio, this has been dispelled as a myth. There is no record of ancient Greeks mentioning the Golden Ratio outside of maths and numerology, and <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-archaeological-journal/article/abs/did-the-greeks-build-according-to-the-golden-ratio/CB9C3B841188FF449BD7DCC1E0C566B1">studies</a> show φ is very rarely observed in ancient Greek art and architecture. </p>
<p>Voted the most beautiful building in the world <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-most-beautiful-buildings-2017-3#the-parthenon-in-athens-greece-1">in 2017</a>, the Parthenon in Athens is claimed to have φ among its proportions. But <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2686193#metadata_info_tab_contents">careful calculations</a> show this claim is false. </p>
<p>Yet the myth has endured. Today the Golden Ratio is promoted in art, architecture, photography and plastic surgery for its supposed visual beauty.</p>
<h2>Marquardt’s mask</h2>
<p>Among those promoting the Golden Ratio as a beauty ideal is cosmetic surgeon Stephen R. Marquardt. In 2002, Marquardt claimed to have found the Golden Ratio determines beautiful facial proportions. For example, he <a href="https://www.jco-online.com/archive/2002/06/339-jco-interviews-dr-stephen-r-marquardt-on-the-golden-decagon-and-human-facial-beauty/">claimed</a> an ideal face would have a mouth φ times wider than the nose.</p>
<p>Marquardt then created a geometric face mask that represents “ideal” facial proportions for the benefit of cosmetic surgeons and orthodontists – in <a href="https://www.jco-online.com/archive/2002/06/339-jco-interviews-dr-stephen-r-marquardt-on-the-golden-decagon-and-human-facial-beauty/">his words</a>, “as a paradigm of the ideal, final aesthetic result”. </p>
<p>He also claimed the mask could be used to objectively assess beauty, which led to the Golden Ratio test.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474422/original/file-20220717-18-rn4ksw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474422/original/file-20220717-18-rn4ksw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474422/original/file-20220717-18-rn4ksw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474422/original/file-20220717-18-rn4ksw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=746&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474422/original/file-20220717-18-rn4ksw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474422/original/file-20220717-18-rn4ksw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474422/original/file-20220717-18-rn4ksw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=938&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marquardt’s face mask is also called the ‘repose frontal mask’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">https://www.beautyanalysis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/RFMask_printable.jpg</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Marquardt’s claims have been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7929632/">highly influential</a>. Plastic surgery is often guided by Golden Ratio measurements, and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.golden.ratio.face">apps</a> featuring the Golden Ratio test are popular.</p>
<h2>The Golden Ratio test debunked</h2>
<p>In order to study “attractive” faces, Marquardt measured the facial proportions of <a href="https://www.jco-online.com/archive/2002/06/339-jco-interviews-dr-stephen-r-marquardt-on-the-golden-decagon-and-human-facial-beauty/">movie actors and models</a>. So it was his research on this select group of people that led to his claims and the mask.</p>
<p>But Marquardt’s claims have since been disproven, and the Golden Ratio test debunked. </p>
<p>Studies show Marquardt’s mask does not represent <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18175168/">sub-Saharan Africans or East Asians</a>, nor does it represent <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27190951/">South Indians</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, it mostly represents the facial features of the small population of masculinised Northwestern European women. This is a look, as one <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18175168/">study</a> notes, “seen in fashion models”. </p>
<p>In fact, evidence suggests that, while facial ratios may correlate with perceived facial beauty, these ratios depend on biological and cultural <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27190951/">factors</a>. </p>
<p>One <a href="https://journals.lww.com/prsgo/Fulltext/2019/02000/What_Is_the_Most_Beautiful_Facial_Proportion_in.1.aspx">study</a> of the 2001-2015 Miss Universe winners illustrated this strikingly. These winners are seen across many cultures to be very beautiful. </p>
<p>However, unlike masculinised fashion models from Northwestern Europe, the correlation between their facial ratios and the Golden Ratio of Marquardt’s mask were “statistically significantly invalid”.</p>
<p>So it’s clear: there is no magic number that universally determines beauty. </p>
<h2>Who’s the fairest?</h2>
<p>Researchers have identified some “Platonic” traits of facial beauty, including <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19394585/">averageness and symmetry</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19285521/">sexual dimorphism</a>, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5483863_New_Insights_into_Skin_Appearance_and_Measurement">skin texture</a>,
<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4244703/">emotion</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/368239a0">randomness</a>.</p>
<p>However, there is currently no evidence suggesting the Golden Ratio φ determines facial beauty – or any visual beauty for that matter. </p>
<p>You can (informally) test this yourself. Below are rectangles with ratios φ:1, 3:2, 1.414:1, 4:3 and 1:1. Does one of these have a beauty surpassing the others?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475432/original/file-20220721-13094-3tldnf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475432/original/file-20220721-13094-3tldnf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=63&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475432/original/file-20220721-13094-3tldnf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=63&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475432/original/file-20220721-13094-3tldnf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=63&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475432/original/file-20220721-13094-3tldnf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=79&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475432/original/file-20220721-13094-3tldnf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=79&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475432/original/file-20220721-13094-3tldnf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=79&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Which of these rectangles seems most beautiful to you?</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-there-really-a-single-ideal-body-shape-for-women-38432">Is there really a single ideal body shape for women?</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Britz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It has long been thought the ancient Greeks used the Golden Ratio to beautify their art and architecture. Turns out that’s not really true.Thomas Britz, Senior Lecturer, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/710122017-01-29T18:56:36Z2017-01-29T18:56:36ZLet’s face it, first impressions count online<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/154133/original/image-20170124-16052-1gjb35v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Same face, different impressions.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/lipik</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We live in an age where most of us have an online presence. Many of us have numerous accounts <a href="https://www.socialmedianews.com.au/social-media-statistics-australia-november-2016/">on social and professional networking sites</a> such as Facebook and LinkedIn. And singles among us are increasingly turning online to find love. </p>
<p>So how do the images we post of ourselves online influence the first impressions others form of us?</p>
<p>While it’s often said we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, the reality is that <a href="https://theconversation.com/open-minded-heres-how-much-facial-stereotyping-influences-your-decisions-33445">we all do</a>. It takes only the <a href="http://www.csuchico.edu/%7Enschwartz/Psychological%20Science-2006-Willis-592-8.pdf">briefest glance</a> of a face, for us to form first impressions on a range of social attributes such as attractiveness, trustworthiness, likeability and competence.</p>
<p>And it isn’t all in the eye of the beholder. There is a high degree of consensus in the first impressions we form of others from their facial appearance. This means many people will often form the same impression of another person based on their appearance.</p>
<h2>First impressions count</h2>
<p>It goes without saying that the extent to which you’re evaluated as attractive, trustworthy, likeable and competent can influence important personal outcomes, such as your love life and employment prospects.</p>
<p>But perhaps less intuitive is the fact that first impressions formed on the basis of an individual’s facial appearance can have <a href="http://tlab.princeton.edu/publication_files/Todorov_ARP2014.pdf">important consequences</a> for societal outcomes.</p>
<p>Within politics, first impressions of competence predict <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-it-too-late-for-trump-and-clinton-to-become-more-likable-57329">electoral success</a>. Political candidates with more competent-looking faces win more votes and are more likely to win elections. </p>
<p>In business, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1571469">competent-looking CEOs</a> are more likely to be hired by large corporations and receive larger salaries. In the judicial system, individuals who have untrustworthy-looking faces are more likely to receive <a href="https://people.ok.ubc.ca/stporter/Publications_files/Dangerous%20Decision%20Theory%20-%20mock%20jury%20study%20FINAL.pdf">guilty verdicts</a>.</p>
<h2>Face facts</h2>
<p>Given first impressions predict such important personal and societal outcomes, we’d want them to be highly accurate. The problem is, they’re not. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.psych.utoronto.ca/users/rule/pubs/2013/Rule_etal(2013-JPSP).pdf">Research</a> has shown that people judge both criminals and non-criminals similarly in terms of their perceived trustworthiness. </p>
<p>The lack of accuracy in our first impressions is further illustrated by inconsistency in the nature of first impressions assigned to different images of the exact same face.</p>
<p>Consider the first impressions of <a href="https://theconversation.com/facial-symmetry-and-good-health-may-not-be-related-30637">facial attractiveness</a> as an example. Stable, biologically based features of a face, namely symmetry, averageness (mathematically average for the population) and sexual dimorphism (masculinity and femininity) are well established <a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190208?journalCode=psych">markers of facial attractiveness</a>. These are all attributes that remain constant across different images of a person’s face. </p>
<p>But <a href="http://earlyexperience.unsw.wikispaces.net/file/view/Jenkins-COGNITION_2011.pdf">research</a> shows that separate images of the same face will often receive very different attractiveness ratings. The variability in attractiveness ratings across images of a single person’s face is on par with the variability in attractiveness ratings assigned to faces of different individuals. </p>
<p>Similar findings have also been observed for other first impressions, including <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.963.7276&rep=rep1&type=pdf">trustworthiness and competence</a>. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b31zkdQ_2_8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">What’s your impression of this face as it changes expression?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>How is it that different images of the same face can create such different first impressions?</p>
<p>The answer lies in the fact that an important determinant of the first impressions we form from an image of a face, comes from changeable aspects of our facial appearance. That is, variations in our facial expression, facial viewpoint and eye gaze direction.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/facial-expressions-are-key-to-first-impressions-what-does-that-mean-for-people-with-facial-paralysis-59359">Facial expressions</a> in particular have a profound influence on our first impressions. Smiling faces are evaluated more positively on a range of social attributes, including <a href="http://webzoom.freewebs.com/evolutionarycognition/papers/Willis.et.al.2011-Social.Cognition.pdf">approachability, trustworthiness</a>, and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjop.12206/full">attractiveness</a>. </p>
<p>The most negative evaluations are assigned to faces conveying negative emotions, such as anger. Even subtle cues to positive and negative emotion influence first impressions assigned to emotionally neutral faces in a similar manner. It’s an issue that those – including myself – who have been accused of suffering from “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/beauty/scientists-have-discovered-what-causes-resting-bitch-face-20160203-gml6em.html">resting bitch face</a>”, would be all too aware of.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3v98CPXNiSk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>So why do facial expressions play such an important role in guiding our first impressions?</p>
<h2>Express yourself, facially</h2>
<p>Facial expressions are important social signals giving information about the internal state and behavioural intentions of others. The ability to accurately infer this information from a momentary glance of a face enables us to regulate our social behaviour appropriately.</p>
<p>This capacity can be important for survival. For instance, the ability to rapidly detect emotions that convey threat, such as anger, can enable you to flee an attacker.</p>
<p>It appears that the extent to which a face is perceived to convey threat, as communicated by one’s facial expression, is directly related to our first impressions. For example, faces that are perceived as <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131472">more threatening</a> are considered less approachable than faces conveying non-threatening emotions. </p>
<p>From an evolutionary perspective, using this information when forming first impressions is clearly adaptive when we encounter strangers in person. This is particularly the case when it’s the only information we have available to guide our interactions.</p>
<p>But when we are forming first impressions of others from a brief glance of their images online, it clearly has the potential to lead us astray.</p>
<h2>Putting your best face forward</h2>
<p>So what does this mean for how we should present ourselves online if we want to make a good first impression?</p>
<p>The message is simple. The key to making a good first impression, whether we’re wanting to be perceived as attractive, competent, trustworthy or likeable all rests with a smiling face. </p>
<p>So whether you’re looking for love, or on the look out for a new job, go for the snap of you smiling if you want to put your best face forward.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71012/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Megan Willis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If you’re looking online for new love, a new job or just to meet up with new friends, then a lot rests on the face you present to the world.Megan Willis, Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/593592016-05-27T02:08:21Z2016-05-27T02:08:21ZFacial expressions are key to first impressions. What does that mean for people with facial paralysis?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124163/original/image-20160526-22056-3yfwfg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Facial expressions may be a universal language. Where does that leave people with facial paralysis?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AUniversal_emotions7.JPG">Icerko Lýdia via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Facial expressions are important parts of how we communicate and how we develop impressions of the people around us. In <a href="https://archive.org/details/expressionofemot1872darw">“The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals,”</a> Charles Darwin proposed that facial expressions evolved to quickly communicate emotional states important to social survival. He hypothesized that certain facial expressions are innate, and therefore universally expressed and recognized across all cultures. </p>
<p>In 1971, psychology researchers Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiFw66kjPHMAhVC34MKHWNyBVgQFgghMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.paulekman.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2013%2F07%2FConstants-Across-Cultures-In-The-Face-And-Emotion.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHfpfBy17jwqByoAjE8p6d-J2MHVw&sig2=thYGEPOXp54ndj4TwA5KbA&bvm=bv.122676328,d.aXo">tested Darwin’s hypothesis</a>. They enlisted members of the Fore tribe in Papua New Guinea, who at the time had little contact with Western culture, to do an emotion recognition task. An interpreter read stories about emotional events to members of the tribe, such as “her child has died, and she feels very sad.” The Fore were then asked to match photos of Americans’ facial expressions to the story. The researchers also took photos of the facial expressions of the Fore people and showed them to Americans later. </p>
<p>People from both cultures showed the same facial expressions for six “basic” emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise) and were able to recognize their meaning in others. This is strong evidence that certain emotions are evolutionarily based. In the decades since, research has continued to support Darwin’s hypothesis: for instance, showing that congenitally blind people display <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0014037">the same spontaneous expressions</a> as sighted people. Indeed, facial expression may be one of the only universal languages. </p>
<p>So where does that leave people with facial paralysis? As a psychology professor with Moebius syndrome, a condition involving facial paralysis, I’m personally and professionally interested in what happens when the face is no longer the primary means of expression. My <a href="http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/sps/dsil">Disability and Social Interaction Lab</a> at Oregon State University has been investigating this question. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124200/original/image-20160526-22063-17fh4sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124200/original/image-20160526-22063-17fh4sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124200/original/image-20160526-22063-17fh4sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124200/original/image-20160526-22063-17fh4sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124200/original/image-20160526-22063-17fh4sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124200/original/image-20160526-22063-17fh4sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124200/original/image-20160526-22063-17fh4sr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kathleen Bogart’s Disability and Social Interaction Lab presenting research about Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Types of facial paralysis</h2>
<p>Each year, approximately <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2698806/">225,000 Americans</a> are diagnosed with <a href="http://www.facialpalsy.org.uk/about-facial-palsy">facial paralysis</a>. It can be congenital, like <a href="http://moebiussyndrome.org/">Moebius syndrome</a> or <a href="http://www.omim.org/entry/601471">hereditary facial paralysis</a>. It can also result from <a href="http://www.facialpalsy.org.uk/about-facial-palsy/causes-diagnoses/birth-trauma/272">birth trauma</a> if the facial nerve is damaged in the birth canal or by forceps delivery.</p>
<p>Acquired facial paralysis from an illness or an injury is far more common. <a href="http://www.facialparalysisfoundation.org/bells-palsy/">Bell’s palsy</a>, <a href="https://www.anausa.org">acoustic neuroma</a>, <a href="http://www.facialpalsy.org.uk/about-facial-palsy/causes-diagnoses/lyme-disease/50">Lyme disease</a>, <a href="http://www.facialpalsy.org.uk/about-facial-palsy/causes-diagnoses/stroke/58">stroke</a>, <a href="http://www.nationalmssociety.org/What-is-MS">multiple sclerosis</a>, ear infections, <a href="http://www.facialpalsy.org.uk/about-facial-palsy/causes-diagnoses/trauma/48">injury</a> to the facial nerve and others can all lead to facial paralysis. Bell’s palsy, which typically affects one side of the face, is the most common. While it’s usually temporary, approximately 15 percent of people with Bell’s are left with paralysis that does not improve. </p>
<p>In a series of published and unpublished focus groups and interviews, my colleagues and I found that people with facial paralysis reported hearing all sorts of “interpretations” of their appearance. Strangers asked them if they had just gotten a Novocain shot, if they were having a stroke, or if the condition was contagious, <a href="http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/sites/liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/files/bogartkathleenpsychologicalsciencepeopleareallfulltext.pdf">deadly</a> or painful. Some people made connections to the person’s character, assuming them to be unfriendly, unhappy or even <a href="http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/sites/liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/files/bogartkathleenpsychologicalsciencesocialinteractionexperiences.pdf">intellectually disabled</a>.</p>
<h2>Making a first impression</h2>
<p>In landmark <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjcmfbelfHMAhVD0oMKHee4BMIQFgglMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fambadylab.stanford.edu%2Fpubs%2F1993Ambady.pdf&usg=AFQjCNH19R6LH9c5CnMhPJZOFMCgFhXw7Q&sig2=xSAD18tft799vaIMxWAaoA&bvm=bv.122676328,d.aXo">research</a> published in 1993, psychologists Nalini Ambady and Robert Rosenthal asked strangers to view short (six- to 30-second) silent video clips of high school and college teachers while they were teaching. The strangers then rated their impressions of the teachers’ personalities, based on their nonverbal behaviors – things like expressions and gestures. Today this sort of research using very short experiences to form judgments of individual behavior is called thin slice research.</p>
<p>The strangers’ ratings were remarkably similar to teaching effectiveness ratings from the teachers’ students and their supervisors who knew them and their work very well. </p>
<p>Our social world has an overwhelming amount of information, but <a href="http://ambadylab.stanford.edu/pubs/1992Ambady.pdf">numerous thin slice studies</a> suggest we can navigate it efficiently based on a “gut” reaction. People’s first impressions are surprisingly accurate in predicting many social characteristics: <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.69.3.518">personality</a>, <a href="http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/sites/liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/files/bogartkathleenpsychologicalsciencethinslicejudgments.pdf">depression</a>, even <a href="http://ambadylab.stanford.edu/pubs/1999Ambady.pdf">gayness</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5G6ZR5lJgTI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Are facial expressions learned or innate?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While facial expressions aren’t the only thing that go into a first impression, they are a pretty big element. So basing our impressions of others on their facial expressions is usually an effective strategy. However, the accuracy of impressions breaks down when people encounter someone with facial paralysis. At first glance, a person with a paralyzed face may look unfriendly, bored, unintelligent, or even depressed. And indeed, people with facial paralysis are often mistakenly ascribed these characteristics.</p>
<h2>People with facial paralysis compensate</h2>
<p>My own research has found that many people with facial paralysis increase expression in their bodies and voices, something I call “compensatory expression.”</p>
<p>In a 2012 <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0026904">study</a> my colleagues and I video-recorded interviews with 27 people with different types of facial paralysis. Research assistants (who were unaware of our hypotheses) watched the interviews and rated the vocal and bodily expressivity of the people with facial paralysis. </p>
<p>Interestingly, we found that people with congenital facial paralysis, like Moebius syndrome, used significantly more compensatory expression than people with acquired facial paralysis. For instance, they used more emotion words, vocal inflection, laughter, gestures and head and body movements. They were also louder and more talkative. </p>
<p>It’s possible that people with congenital facial paralysis are better adapted, perhaps because they navigated early developmental milestones with facial paralysis. </p>
<p>People who acquired facial paralysis after birth, but have lived with it for a long time, may also adapt well. However, our <a href="http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/sites/liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/files/nihms722325_compensatory_expression.pdf">early data</a> suggest that there may be a unique adaptation advantage for people with congenital conditions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124179/original/image-20160526-22086-ebficr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124179/original/image-20160526-22086-ebficr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124179/original/image-20160526-22086-ebficr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124179/original/image-20160526-22086-ebficr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124179/original/image-20160526-22086-ebficr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124179/original/image-20160526-22086-ebficr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124179/original/image-20160526-22086-ebficr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Facial expressions aren’t the only way people communicate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-311695169/stock-photo-two-business-woman-shaking-hands-together.html?src=umqIxSQJcPdzcZ8Pi_XiOA-3-11">Women shaking hands via www.shutterstock.com.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Thin slice research on facial paralysis</h2>
<p>Facial expressions play such a critical role in forming first impressions, so what does that mean for people with facial paralysis?</p>
<p>In a series of experiments, we showed thin slice videos of people with disorders that affect facial movement, including <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2014.917973">facial paralysis</a> and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0036637">Parkinson’s disease</a> to strangers. We asked the strangers for their first impressions based on the videos.</p>
<p>People with severe facial movement impairment were rated as less happy and sociable compared to people with mild facial movement impairment. Participants also had less desire to form friendships with them.</p>
<p>Our results across these studies have found that there is a very large bias against people with facial movement disorders. </p>
<p>Crucially, participants rated people with facial paralysis who use a lot of compensatory expression as happier and more sociable than those who use less, regardless of the severity of their paralysis. We are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2015.00213">developing</a> communication skills workshops encouraging the use of compensatory expression for people with facial paralysis.</p>
<p>In another thin slice <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(03)00213-2">study</a>, Linda Tickle-Degnen along with Kathleen Lyons found that even clinicians with expertise in facial movement disorders viewed people with facial movement impairment in negative ways.</p>
<p>This indicates how hard it is to override the natural human tendency to form impressions based on the face. And for clinicians, it is of special concern. Their facial expression bias may be a barrier to rapport or even clinical judgments of depression and pain in patients with facial paralysis.</p>
<h2>Raising awareness can help</h2>
<p>In a recent <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2014.09.010">experiment</a>, we found initial evidence that raising awareness improves how people perceive facial paralysis. Some participants read a few educational paragraphs about facial paralysis (much like the information in this article), and some were not given any information about facial paralysis. Next, all participants watched thin slice videos of people with facial paralysis. The participants who read the educational information rated people with facial paralysis as more sociable than those who did not read the information. </p>
<p>We are continuing to develop educational <a href="http://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/sps/dsil/moebius-syndrome-awareness-project">materials</a> for clinicians and the general public to raise awareness and reduce bias.</p>
<p>In our focus groups, the most common comment from people with facial paralysis was a call for greater public awareness. They know firsthand that people are confused by their facial difference. They often wonder if they should explain it to others, but to do so every time they meet someone new would be awkward and burdensome. Widespread awareness would reduce the need to explain their condition, and would educate others to pay attention to the compensatory tactics they use to communicate their emotions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59359/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathleen Bogart has received research funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Moebius Syndrome Foundation. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Moebius Syndrome Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations.</span></em></p>What happens when the face is no longer the primary means of expression?Kathleen Bogart, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Oregon State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/306372014-08-20T05:22:25Z2014-08-20T05:22:25ZFacial symmetry and good health may not be related<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56791/original/ky77gsmq-1408441721.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is beauty in the face of the beheld?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-94779322/stock-photo-young-man-shown-in-different-poses.html?src=ynlo3Tvo0gWp45xjBLxHMw-1-92">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Beauty, it is said, is in the eye of the beholder. And yet, there are many faces that a majority would find beautiful, say, George Clooney’s or Audrey Hepburn’s.</p>
<p>Psychologists interested in mate selection and the visual processing of faces have long sought to understand why some faces are widely regarded as attractive. Researchers have identified several cues associated with facial beauty, including “<a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190208">averageness</a>” – faces close to the population mean are judged attractive – and “<a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190208">sexual dimorphism</a>” – faces that accentuate characteristics that distinguish males and females are desirable. </p>
<p>There has also been long-standing interest in facial symmetry. Most faces appear broadly symmetric. Close inspection, however, almost always reveals subtle deviations from perfect symmetry. It is common for one eye to be positioned slightly above the other, or further away from the mid-line, and features are rarely perfectly symmetric in shape. Having examined the relationship between degree of facial symmetry and perceived attractiveness, <a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/273/1605/3093.full">many studies</a> have found that beautiful faces exhibit greater symmetry. </p>
<p>The “<a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1512494/good-genes-hypothesis">good genes hypothesis</a>” provides an appealing explanation of this finding. It argues that deviation from facial symmetry is due to difficulties arising during development caused by malnutrition, infection or genetic mutation. The degree of facial symmetry may therefore be a marker of health and resilience, indicating how well people cope with environmental or genetic challenges. So we may find facial symmetry desirable in a mate because these qualities prove beneficial to potential offspring. </p>
<p>While this explanation has proved popular with evolutionary psychologists, new research, published in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1639">Proceedings of the Royal Society</a>, challenges the good genes account of facial symmetry preferences. The study, led by Nicholas Pound of Brunel University, examined the health histories of 4,732 British individuals – 2,506 males and 2,226 females – with varying degrees of facial symmetry. A number of health measures were investigated in this large sample, including the frequency of infections, time spent unwell and average symptoms per year.</p>
<p>Pound and his colleagues found no association between deviations from perfect facial symmetry and any of the health measures, undermining a key assumption of the “good genes” account.</p>
<p>There were, however, some indications that facial symmetry measured at age 8 may be correlated to intelligence assessed at age 15. But the measured differences in facial symmetry accounted for only 1% of the observed variation in IQ.</p>
<p>If preferences for symmetric faces do not reflect an evolutionary strategy to better the health of prospective offspring, why do we find facial symmetry appealing? Interestingly, there is <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v372/n6502/abs/372169a0.html">growing evidence</a> for a preference for symmetry that extends beyond faces. Humans find many symmetric objects and patterns pleasing, including the markings of fish and butterflies. Moreover, this preference may be present throughout the animal kingdom. For example, honey bees exhibit <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14519692.900-bees-get-a-buzz-out-of-symmetry.html">preferences for symmetric flowers</a>. </p>
<p>One possibility is that the visual brain finds symmetric patterns <a href="http://psr.sagepub.com/content/8/4/364.abstract">easy to interpret</a>. Having processed one region of a pattern, the visual system might use symmetry to its advantage by “guessing” what it is likely to encounter in the corresponding region of the other half. The closer a pattern approaches perfect symmetry, the more effective these shortcuts prove. The resulting ease with which symmetric patterns and objects are viewed, may be responsible for the preferences observed. </p>
<p>Symmetric faces, then, might not just be easy on the eye, but also easy on the brain. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30637/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Cook receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).</span></em></p>Beauty, it is said, is in the eye of the beholder. And yet, there are many faces that a majority would find beautiful, say, George Clooney’s or Audrey Hepburn’s. Psychologists interested in mate selection…Richard Cook, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.