29. Implicit Preference of Facial Features

Abstract

Abstract

Certain hormone markers found in female faces are of significant interest in today’s beauty culture. The size of hormone markers, such as lips and upper cheek size, are now commonly exaggerated to the extreme through plastic surgery and makeup. This study is aimed at exploring the preferences of male participants towards female faces to determine whether larger or smaller facial features, specifically the eyes, nose, or lips, are perceived as more attractive. This study hopes to establish further research that promotes the underlying motivations of attraction and how it affects the changing social norms of beauty. Sixty-six male University of North Georgia students consented to and completed the survey through the SONA system. The survey consisted of 18 questions. Each question focused on one feature by presenting two images that were alike in every way, except the size of one of the three features was enlarged in one of the pictures. The questions were also given a time limit of five seconds to ensure the choices would be implicit. None of the categories (eyes, nose, or mouth) were shown to be statistically significant at a .05 level, X² = 5.37 ( 2, N=66 ), p = .068. The odds ratio analysis supports that men prefer a smaller nose and mouth a larger percentage of the time. There was only a slight preference towards smaller eyes. This was in contradiction to our hypothesis. We believed participants would favor larger eyes due to media expectations.