Beauty is better pursued: effects of attractiveness in multiple-face tracking

Using the multiple-object tracking paradigm, this study examines how spontaneous appraisal for facial beauty affects distributed attention to multiple faces in dynamic displays. Observers tracked attractive faces more effectively than unattractive faces in this task. Tracking performance was only affected by target attractiveness, suggesting an absence of appraisal for distractor attractiveness. Attractive male faces also produced stronger binding of face identity and location for female participants. Together, the results suggest that facial attractiveness was appraised during tracking even though this was task irrelevant. Contrary to the theory that multiple-object tracking is driven by encapsulated low-level vision, our results show that the content of target representation is not only penetrable by social cognition but also modulates the course of tracking operations.     

How facial attractiveness affects sustained attention

The present study investigated whether and how facial attractiveness affects sustained attention. We adopted a multiple‐identity tracking paradigm, using attractive and unattractive faces as stimuli. Participants were required to track moving target faces amid distractor faces and report the final location of each target. In Experiment 1, the attractive and unattractive faces differed in both the low‐level properties (i.e., luminance, contrast, and color saturation) and high‐level properties (i.e., physical beauty and age). The results showed that the attractiveness of both the target and distractor faces affected the tracking performance: The attractive target faces were tracked better than the unattractive target faces; when the targets and distractors were both unattractive male faces, the tracking performance was poorer than when they were of different attractiveness. In Experiment 2, the low‐level properties of the facial images were equalized. The results showed that the attractive target faces were still tracked better than unattractive targets while the effects related to distractor attractiveness ceased to exist. Taken together, the results indicate that during attentional tracking the high‐level properties related to the attractiveness of the target faces can be automatically processed, and then they can facilitate the sustained attention on the attractive targets, either with or without the supplement of low‐level properties. On the other hand, only low‐level properties of the distractor faces can be processed. When the distractors share similar low‐level properties with the targets, they can be grouped together, so that it would be more difficult to sustain attention on the individual targets.     

The appraisal of facial beauty is rapid but not mandatory

Facial attractiveness is an important source of social affective information. Here, we studied the time course and task dependence of evaluating attractive faces from a viewer’s perspective. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants classified color portraits of unfamiliar persons according to gender and facial attractiveness. During attractiveness classification, enhanced ERP amplitudes for attractive and nonattractive faces relative to faces of intermediate attractiveness were found for an early component around 150 msec and for the late positive complex (LPC). Whereas LPC enhancement conforms to previous studies employing various types of affective stimuli, the finding of an early effect extends earlier research on rapid emotion processing to the dimension of facial attractiveness. Dipole source localization of this early ERP effect revealed a scalp distribution suggesting activation of posterior extrastriate areas. Importantly, attractiveness-related modulations of brain responses were only marginal during the gender decision task, arguing against the automaticity of attractiveness appraisal.     

Angry faces are tracked more easily than neutral faces during multiple identity tracking

We investigated whether and how emotional facial expressions affect sustained attention in face tracking. In a multiple-identity and object tracking paradigm, participants tracked multiple target faces that continuously moved around together with several distractor faces, and subsequently reported where each target face had moved to. The emotional expression (angry, happy, and neutral) of the target and distractor faces was manipulated. Tracking performance was better when the target faces were angry rather than neutral, whereas angry distractor faces did not affect tracking. The effect persisted when the angry faces were presented upside-down and when surface features of the faces were irrelevant to the ongoing task. There was only suggestive and weak evidence for a facilitatory effect of happy targets and a distraction effect of happy distractors in comparison to neutral faces. The results show that angry expressions on the target faces can facilitate sustained attention on the targets via increased vigilance, yet this effect likely depends on both emotional information and visual features of the angry faces.     

Can beauty be ignored? Effects of facial attractiveness on covert attention

Facial beauty has important social and biological implications. Research has shown that people tend to look longer at attractive than at unattractive faces. However, little is known about whether an attractive face presented outside foveal vision can capture attention. The effect of facial attractiveness on covert attention was investigated in a spatial cuing task. Participants were asked to judge the orientation of a cued target presented to the left or right visual field while ignoring a task-irrelevant face image flashed in the opposite field. The presentation of attractive faces significantly lengthened task performance. The results suggest that facial beauty automatically competes with an ongoing cognitive task for spatial attention.     

面孔吸引力的整体表征及其动态性增强

面孔作为一种高级的视觉刺激,在人际交往中有着无可替代的作用。其中,面孔吸引力更是影响着日常生活的重要社交决策,如择偶、交友、求职、社会交换等。长久以来,研究者们从面孔特征、社会信息和观察者因素等角度不断探索着人们对静态面孔吸引力的感知,且多从进化角度加以解释。但是,人们如何表征面孔吸引力以及其动态性增强机制仍未可知。本项目通过两个研究,分别从面孔吸引力的整体表征,以及面孔动态性通过影响整体加工、影响对整体信息和特征信息的注意、以及影响社会信息来增强吸引力,从这两个角度尝试回答这一问题。在研究1中,本项目从整体加工的角度探索了面孔吸引力的认知表征。研究1.1通过评分任务和适应范式探索高空间频率（更多局部特征）和低空间频率（更多整体特征）对面孔吸引力的影响,旨在从空间频率探讨面孔吸引力的整体表征。研究1.2通过操纵面孔对称性和面孔常态性探索面孔常态性在面孔对称性和面孔吸引力间的中介作用,探讨面孔吸引力的常态构型表征。研究1.3引入“三庭五眼”这一中国传统面孔审美理论,通过评分任务和适应范式研究“三庭五眼” 构型是否符合中国人对高吸引力中国面孔的表征,以此探讨面孔吸引力的整体表征。研究1.4通过评分任务和适应范式考察局部面孔遮挡是否促进整体面孔吸引力,以及这种促进作用是否由于人们通过局部特征“脑补”出了完整面孔。研究2从整体加工、注意和生命力的角度探讨面孔吸引力的动态性增强机制。研究2.1使用合成效应范式测量动态面孔吸引力的整体加工,探索动静态面孔的吸引力差异是否源于其整体加工程度的不同。研究2.2使用注意分散范式,并结合眼动技术,探讨人们对动静态面孔的注视模式是否存在差异,这种差异是否能解释动态面孔吸引力的增强。研究2.3结合问卷法、实验法和结构方程模型,考察了生命力这一社会因素对动静态面孔吸引力的影响。本项目探讨了面孔吸引力的认知表征以及其动态性增强机制,有助于我们进一步理解人们对面孔吸引力的认知加工以及人类欣赏美这一高级智能。同时,本项目的结果对于日常人际交往和面孔吸引力相关算法的优化等方面也有潜在的应用价值。     

The impact of face skin tone on perceived facial attractiveness: A study realized with an innovative methodology

This study aimed to assess the impact of target faces’ skin tone and perceivers’ skin tone on the participants’ attractiveness judgment regarding a symmetrical representative range of target faces as stimuli. Presented with a set of facial features, 240 Mozambican adults rated their attractiveness along a continuous scale. ANOVA and Chi-square were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that the skin tone of the target faces had an impact on the participants’ attractiveness judgment. Overall, participants preferred light-skinned faces over dark-skinned ones. This finding is not only consistent with previous results on skin tone preferences, but it is even more powerful because it demonstrates that the light skin tone preference occurs regardless of the symmetry and baseline attractiveness of the stimuli.     

男性对女性面孔吸引力的认知偏好: 来自ERP的证据

运用事件相关电位(ERPs)技术, 采用学习-再认实验任务, 探讨了男性对有、无吸引力女性面孔图片进行判断和再认时脑内时程的动态变化。行为数据结果表明, 男性对有吸引力女性面孔的反应时更长, 再认正确率更高。ERP结果发现, 有、无吸引力面孔诱发的ERP早成分和晚成分都存在显著差异, 最强效应出现在大脑皮层的中前部。在判断任务和再认任务中, 有吸引力的女性面孔都比无吸引力的女性面孔诱发出更大的ERP成分(分别为N300、P350~550ms和P160、N300~500ms、P500~700ms)。结果表明, 男性对有吸引力的女性面孔的判断和再认存在偏好。     

Infant's visual preferences for facial traits associated with adult attractiveness judgements: Data from eye-tracking

Human preferences for facial attractiveness appear to emerge at an early stage during infant development. A number of studies have demonstrated that infants display a robust preference for facial attractiveness, preferring to look at physically attractive faces versus less attractive faces as judged by adults. However, to-date, relatively little is known about which traits of the face infants use to base these preferences upon. In contrast, a large number of studies conducted with human adults have identified that preference for attractive faces can be attributed to a number of specific facial traits. The purpose of the experiments here was to measure and assess infant's visual preference via eye-tracker technology for faces manipulated for one of three traits known to effect attractiveness judgments in adult preference tests: symmetry, averageness, and sexually dimorphic traits. Sixty-four infants (28 female and 36 male) aged between 12 and 24 months old each completed a visual paired comparison (VPC) task for one of the three facial dimensions investigated. Data indicated that infants displayed a significant visual preference for facial symmetry analogous to those preferences displayed by adults. Infants also displayed a significant visual preference for feminine versions of faces, in line with some studies of adult preferences. Visual preferences for facial non-averageness, or distinctiveness were also seen, a pattern opposite to that seen in adults. These findings demonstrate that infant's appreciation for facial attractiveness in adult images between the ages of 12 and 24 months of age is based on some, but not all, traits that adults find attractive.     

道德信息对面孔吸引力判断的无意识调节

抽象语言信息是否能够影响知觉?本研究在审美领域对此进行考察,探索无意识获取的道德信息是否影响个体对相应面孔吸引力的知觉判断。结果发现个体对面孔吸引力的知觉判断受到内隐道德信息的调节,且调节效应与面孔本身吸引力水平无关; 另外,面孔审美判断的反应时受到道德美丑和面孔吸引力的共同影响,尤其当两类信息相矛盾时被试需要更长的时间进行判断。研究结果表明抽象的社会道德信息可以对面孔吸引力的知觉判断产生自上而下的调节。     

The role of facial attractiveness and facial masculinity/femininity in sex classification of faces

We tested whether adults (experiment 1) and 4 - 5-year-old children (experiment 2) identify the sex of highly attractive faces faster and more accurately than not very attractive faces in a reaction-time task. We also assessed whether facial masculinity/femininity facilitated identification of sex. Results showed that attractiveness facilitated adults' sex classification of both female and male faces and children's sex classification of female, but not male, faces. Moreover, attractiveness affected the speed and accuracy of sex classification independently of masculinity/femininity. High masculinity in male faces, but not high femininity in female faces, also facilitated sex classification for both adults and children. These findings provide important new data on how the facial cues of attractiveness and masculinity/femininity contribute to the task of sex classification and provide evidence for developmental differences in how adults and children use these cues. Additionally, these findings provide support for Langlois and Roggman's (1990 Psychological Science 1 115 121) averageness theory of attractiveness.     

男性化与女性化对面孔偏好的影响—— 基于图像处理技术和眼动的检验

采用图像处理技术和眼动探讨了性别二态线索对面孔偏好的影响。实验1发现非面孔线索未掩蔽和掩蔽时, 感知男性化技术与原始照片条件下女性化的男性面孔更有吸引力和信任度; 性别二态技术条件下, 非面孔线索未掩蔽时男性化的男性面孔更有吸引力和信任度。实验2表明被试对男性面孔的平均瞳孔大小和注视次数均大于和多于女性面孔, 首次注视时间短于女性面孔; 被试对男性化面孔的首次注视时间和首次注视持续时间均长于女性化面孔。     

I know you are beautiful even without looking at you: discrimination of facial beauty in peripheral vision

Earlier research suggests that facial attractiveness may capture attention at parafovea. However, little is known about how well facial beauty can be detected at parafoveal and peripheral vision. Participants in this study judged relative attractiveness of a face pair presented simultaneously at several eccentricities from the central fixation. The results show that beauty is not only detectable at parafovea but also at periphery. The discrimination performance at parafovea was indistinguishable from the performance around the fovea. Moreover, performance was well above chance even at the periphery. The results show that the visual system is able to use the low-spatial-frequency information to appraise attractiveness. These findings not only provide an explanation why a beautiful face could capture attention when central vision is already engaged elsewhere, but also reveal the potential means by which a crowd of faces is quickly scanned for attractiveness.     

面孔吸引力同化的连续性效应

以往研究表明目标面孔的吸引力评价会偏向背景面孔, 产生同化效应。但同化效应的计算常常是对不同背景下目标面孔吸引力评分进行比较, 并没有考虑目标面孔单独呈现时的吸引力评分, 可能是虚假的同化效应。本文以单独呈现的目标面孔吸引力评分作为基准值计算同化效应, 考察了呈现时间和目标与背景面孔吸引力的差异对目标面孔吸引力评价的影响。结果发现, 个体对目标面孔吸引力的评分会偏向背景面孔的吸引力, 并表现出同化的连续性效应, 即目标和背景面孔的吸引力差异越大, 同化效应越小。     

Facial symmetry and the perception of beauty

Evolutionary, as well as cultural, pressures may contribute to our perceptions of facial attractiveness. Biologists predict that facial symmetry should be attractive, because it may signal mate quality. We tested the prediction that facial symmetry is attractive by manipulating the symmetry of individual faces and observing the effect on attractiveness, and by examining whether natural variations in symmetry (between faces) correlated with perceived attractiveness. Attractiveness increased when we increased symmetry, and decreased when we reduced symmetry, in individual faces (Experiment 1), and natural variations in symmetry correlated significantly with attractiveness (Experiments 1 and 1A). Perfectly symmetric versions, made by blending the normal and mirror images of each face, were preferred to less symmetric versions of the same faces (even when those versions were also blends) (Experiments 1 and 2). Similar results were found when subjects judged the faces on appeal as a potential life partner, suggesting that facial symmetry may affect human mate choice. We conclude that facial symmetry is attractive and discuss the possibility that this preference for symmetry may be biologically based.     

The influence of position and context on facial attractiveness

It has been shown that a person's position in a group influences how that person is evaluated, with people in the middle perceived as more important than people on the fringe of a group. Four experiments examined whether the position of a face, in a line of five faces, influenced facial attractiveness. The middle position influenced the perceived attractiveness of the target face but the direction of this effect depended on the attractiveness of the target and the surrounding faces. Attractive faces were perceived as less attractive when in the middle of unattractive faces, or faces of average attractiveness. Conversely, unattractive faces were perceived as more attractive when in the middle of other unattractive faces. These results have wide implications, suggesting that the more central a stimulus is in a context then the greater the influence of the context on the judgment of that stimulus.     

面部特征空间关系、肤色亮度对卡通面孔吸引力的影响

选取88名大班儿童（43名女童和45名男童）及90名在校大学生（42名男生和48名女生）为实验被试,通过心理量表评分,探讨面部特征空间关系、肤色和亮度对儿童卡通面孔吸引力影响。结果显示：（1）幼儿与成人对卡通面孔最佳面部特征空间关系评价存在差异;（2）幼儿评价女童卡通面孔眼嘴间距离占面长24%时吸引力最优,两眼间距离占面宽41%时吸引力最优,但未达显著。成人评价女童卡通面孔也存在纵向“黄金比例（19%）”现象;（3）男童卡通面孔不存在最佳比例;（4）幼儿偏爱偏白肤色,而成人偏好白里透红;（5）受众性别与卡通形象性别均对肤色偏好有影响;（6）亮度高的儿童卡通面孔更具吸引力。结论：卡通面孔吸引力受面部特征空间关系、肤色与亮度等因素显著影响,卡通设计需针对不同年龄、性别受众来设定面部特征空间关系与肤色等要素。     

Integrating gaze direction and expression in preferences for attractive faces

Few studies have investigated how physical and social facial cues are integrated in the formation of face preferences. Here we show that expression differentially qualifies the strength of attractiveness preferences for faces with direct and averted gaze. For judgments of faces with direct gaze, attractiveness preferences were stronger for smiling faces than for faces with neutral expressions. By contrast, for judgments of faces with averted gaze, attractiveness preferences were stronger for faces with neutral expressions than for smiling faces. Because expressions can differ in meaning depending on whether they are directed toward or away from oneself, it is only by integrating gaze direction, facial expression, and physical attractiveness that one can unambiguously identify the most attractive individuals who are likely to reciprocate one's own social interest.     

Locating attractiveness in the face space: Faces are more attractive when closer to <Emphasis Type="Italic">their</Emphasis> group prototype

Face attractiveness relates positively to the mathematical averageness of a face, but how close attractive faces of varying groups are to their own and to other-group prototypes in the face space remains unclear. In two studies, we modeled the locations of attractive and unattractive Caucasian, Asian, and African faces in participants’ face space using multidimensional scaling analysis. In all three sets of faces, facial attractiveness significantly increased with the absolute proximity of a face to its group prototype. In the case of Caucasian and African faces (Study 1), facial attractiveness also tended to increase with the absolute proximity of a face to the other-group prototype. However, this association was at best marginal, and it became clearly nonsignificant when distance to the own-group prototype was controlled for. Thus, the present research provides original evidence that average features of faces contribute to increasing their attractiveness, but only when these features are average to the group to which a face belongs. The present research also offers further support to face space models of people’s mental representations of faces.     

Preferences for sexual dimorphism on attractiveness levels: An eye-tracking study

Previous studies on sexual dimorphism showed feminine preferences in female faces and mixed findings in male faces by choosing which is more attractive in a pair of a masculine face and a feminine face. However, very little is known about how people make fine-grained visual assessments of such images and the attractiveness levels of faces are not received much attention. Recently a large number of androgynous stars appear in the media, which triggers a hot phenomenon of imitating them. Here we examine the influence of androgynous stars on people’s facial preferences for sexual dimorphism in male and female faces on different attractiveness levels using eye-tracking techniques. In male faces we found both male and female participants preferred masculine faces to androgynous faces in high attractiveness, but mixed results in low attractiveness. In female faces we found both male and female participants preferred feminine faces to androgynous faces in high attractiveness, but no preferences in low attractiveness. Results suggest that attractiveness levels of faces might be a factor causing inconsistency in sexual dimorphism preference for male faces and that androgynous faces are not preferred, which reveals that androgynous phenomenon might not be caused by facial attractiveness.