The psychometrics of rating facial attractiveness using different response scales.

Perceiving facial attractiveness is an important behaviour across psychological science due to these judgments having real-world consequences. However, there is little consensus on the measurement of this behaviour, and practices differ widely. Research typically asks participants to provide ratings of attractiveness across a multitude of different response scales, with little consideration of the psychometric properties of these scales. Here, we make psychometric comparisons across nine different response scales. Specifically, we analysed the psychometric properties of a binary response, a 0-100 scale, a visual analogue scale, and a set of Likert scales (1-3, 1-5, 1-7, 1-8, 1-9, 1-10) as tools to measure attractiveness, calculating a range of commonly used statistics for each. While certain properties suggested researchers might choose to favour the 1-5, 1-7 and 1-8 scales, we generally found little evidence of an advantage for one scale over any other. Taken together, our investigation provides consideration of currently used techniques for measuring facial attractiveness and makes recommendations for researchers in this field.

Scoring facial attractiveness with deep convolutional neural networks: How training on standardized images reduces the bias of facial expressions.

OBJECTIVE: In many medical disciplines, facial attractiveness is part of the diagnosis, yet its scoring might be confounded by facial expressions. The intent was to apply deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) to identify how facial expressions affect facial attractiveness and to explore whether a dedicated training of the CNN is able to reduce the bias of facial expressions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Frontal facial images (n = 840) of 40 female participants (mean age 24.5 years) were taken adapting a neutral facial expression and the six universal facial expressions. Facial attractiveness was computed by means of a face detector, deep convolutional neural networks, standard support vector regression for facial beauty, visual regularized collaborative filtering and a regression technique for handling visual queries without rating history. CNN was first trained on random facial photographs from a dating website and then further trained on the Chicago Face Database (CFD) to increase its suitability to medical conditions. Both algorithms scored every image for attractiveness. RESULTS: Facial expressions affect facial attractiveness scores significantly. Scores from CNN additionally trained on CFD had less variability between the expressions (range 54.3-60.9 compared to range: 32.6-49.5) and less variance within the scores (P ≤ .05), but also caused a shift in the ranking of the expressions' facial attractiveness. CONCLUSION: Facial expressions confound attractiveness scores. Training on norming images generated scores less susceptible to distortion, but more difficult to interpret. Scoring facial attractiveness based on CNN seems promising, but AI solutions must be developed on CNN trained to recognize facial expressions as distractors.

Predicting Facial Attractiveness from Colour Cues: A New Analytic Framework.

Various facial colour cues were identified as valid predictors of facial attractiveness, yet the conventional univariate approach has simplified the complex nature of attractiveness judgement for real human faces. Predicting attractiveness from colour cues is difficult due to the high number of candidate variables and their inherent correlations. Using datasets from Chinese subjects, this study proposed a novel analytic framework for modelling attractiveness from various colour characteristics. One hundred images of real human faces were used in experiments and an extensive set of 65 colour features were extracted. Two separate attractiveness evaluation sets of data were collected through psychophysical experiments in the UK and China as training and testing datasets, respectively. Eight multivariate regression strategies were compared for their predictive accuracy and simplicity. The proposed methodology achieved a comprehensive assessment of diverse facial colour features and their role in attractiveness judgements of real faces; improved the predictive accuracy (the best-fit model achieved an out-of-sample accuracy of 0.66 on a 7-point scale) and significantly mitigated the issue of model overfitting; and effectively simplified the model and identified the most important colour features. It can serve as a useful and repeatable analytic tool for future research on facial impression modelling using high-dimensional datasets.

A Study on the Aesthetic Parameters and Proportions of the External Contour for Minimally Invasive Facial Injection.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to further guide the diagnosis and treatment programs for clinical facial contouring with injectable fillers by studying the facial contour parameters and proportion preferences consistent with Asian aesthetics. METHODS: A total of 89 subjects (42 males and 47 females aged 20-60 years) who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled in this study. The subjects were grouped by age, sex, and external contour attractiveness score, and the external contour aesthetic parameters and proportions of the subjects in different groups were measured and analysed. RESULTS: The upper facial breadth and lower facial breadth decreased with age, with significant differences between the 50-60-year age group and other age groups (P < 0.01). The nasomental angle showed a decreasing trend with age, with significant differences between the 40-49-year age group and the 20-29-year and 30-39-year age groups (P < 0.05). Males and females were significantly different in calva height, total head height, lower facial height, and calva height to total head height ratio (P < 0.05). With increasing age, the external contour attractiveness scores of males and females both showed decreasing trends, with significant differences between the 50-60-year age group and other age groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The calva height and the cranioauricular angle have a significant impact on external contour attractiveness. In general, temporal depression, cheek sagging, lateral cheek depression, and an ill-defined mandibular border will occur due to ageing, collagen loss, ligament laxity and sagging, and soft tissue atrophy and sagging, reducing the attractiveness of the external contour. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Truth Lies in the Depths: Novel Insights into Facial Aesthetic Measurements from a U.S. Survey Panel.

BACKGROUND: Aesthetic facial bone surgery and facial implantology expand the boundaries of conventional facial surgery that focus on facial soft tissue. This study aimed to reveal novel aesthetic facial measurements to provide tailored treatment concepts and advance patient care. METHODS: A total of n=101 study participants (46 females and 55 males) were presented with 120 patient portraits (frontal images in natural head posture; 60 females and 60 males) and asked to assess the facial attractiveness (scale 0-10; "How attractive do you find the person in the image?") and the model capability score (MCS; scale 0-10; "How likely do you think the person in the image could pursue a modelling career?"). For each frontal photograph, defined facial measurements and ratios were taken to analyse their relationship with the perception of facial attractiveness and MCS. RESULTS: The overall attractiveness rating was 4.3 ± 1.1, while the mean MCS was 3.4 ± 1.1. In young males, there was a significant correlation between attractiveness and the zygoma-mandible angle (ZMA)2 (r= - 0.553; p= 0.011). In young and middle-aged females, MCS was significantly correlated with facial width (FW)1-FW2 ratio (r= 0.475; p= 0.034). For all male individuals, a ZMA1 value of 171.79 degrees (Y= 0.313; p= 0.024) was the most robust cut-off to determine facial attractiveness. The majority of human evaluators (n=62; 51.7%) considered facial implants a potential treatment to improve the patient's facial attractiveness. CONCLUSION: This study introduced novel metrics of facial attractiveness, focusing on the facial skeleton. Our findings emphasized the significance of zygomatic measurements and mandibular projections for facial aesthetics, with FI representing a promising surgical approach to optimize facial aesthetics. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Social, intellectual, psychological, and attractiveness judgements of lay people about patients before and after combined orthodontic-orthognathic surgical treatment.

BACKGROUND: Facial appearance plays a significant role in the success of social interactions. There is a limited amount of evidence investigating the influence of combined orthodontic-orthognathic surgical treatment on the social judgments of lay people. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate whether changes in facial appearance following orthognathic surgery alter the social judgements made by lay people. ETHICAL APPROVAL: Ethical approval was granted from the University of Sheffield School of Clinical Dentistry Research Ethics Committee on 17th August 2020 (Reference: 033775). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional, web-based survey involved clinical photographs of six Caucasian female patients pre- and post-combined orthodontic-orthognathic treatment. Three patients had a pre-treatment class 2 skeletal pattern, and three patients had a pre-treatment class 3 skeletal pattern. Staff and students at the University of Sheffield, UK were invited to evaluate five personality traits: (i) friendliness, (ii) intelligence, (iii) attractiveness, (iv) self-confidence, and (5) trustworthiness using a 5-point Likert scale. The trait scores were summed to obtain a total social judgement score, and a paired t-test was used to compare the total scores from pre- and post-treatment images. RESULTS: There were 261 responses to the survey of which 181 (75%) were completed fully. The total social judgement scores from after treatment images were higher compared with the pre-treatment images (mean diff 1.6; P < .001) indicating more positive social judgements. The improvements in perceived social judgments were more notable for class 3 patients (mean diff 2.7) compared to class 2 patients (mean diff 0.7). CONCLUSION: Social judgement scores were higher (more positive) from post-treatment images of patient faces than their pre-treatment images. The findings highlight the possible indirect benefits combined orthodontic-orthognathic surgical treatment may have on an individual in a social setting.

Remembering unexpected beauty: Contributions of the ventral striatum to the processing of reward prediction errors regarding the facial attractiveness in face memory.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led people to predict facial attractiveness from partially covered faces. Differences in the predicted and observed facial attractiveness (i.e., masked and unmasked faces, respectively) are defined as reward prediction error (RPE) in a social context. Cognitive neuroscience studies have elucidated the neural mechanisms underlying RPE-induced memory improvements in terms of monetary rewards. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying RPE-induced memory modulation in terms of social rewards. To elucidate this, the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study investigated activity and functional connectivity during face encoding. In encoding trials, participants rated the predicted attractiveness of faces covered except for around the eyes (prediction phase) and then rated the observed attractiveness of these faces without any cover (outcome phase). The difference in ratings between these phases was defined as RPE in facial attractiveness, and RPE was categorized into positive RPE (increased RPE from the prediction to outcome phases), negative RPE (decreased RPE from the prediction to outcome phases), and non-RPE (no difference in RPE between the prediction and outcome phases). During retrieval, participants were presented with individual faces that had been seen and unseen in the encoding trials, and were required to judge whether or not each face had been seen in the encoding trials. Univariate activity in the ventral striatum (VS) exhibited a linear increase with increased RPE in facial attractiveness. In the multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA), activity patterns in the VS and surrounding areas (extended VS) significantly discriminated between positive/negative RPE and non-RPE. In the functional connectivity analysis, significant functional connectivity between the extended VS and the hippocampus was observed most frequently in positive RPE. Memory improvements by face-based RPE could be involved in functional networks between the extended VS (representing RPE) and the hippocampus, and the interaction could be modulated by RPE values in a social context.

Vulnerability of facial attractiveness perception to early and multi-year visual deprivation.

Judgments of facial attractiveness invariably accompany our perception of faces. Even neonates appear to be capable of making such judgments in a manner consistent with adults. This suggests that the processes supporting facial attractiveness require little, if any, visual experience to manifest. Here we investigate the resilience of these processes to several years of early-onset visual deprivation. Specifically, we study whether congenitally blind children treated several years after birth possess the ability to rate facial attractiveness in a manner congruent to normally sighted individuals. The data reveal significant individual variability in the way each newly sighted child perceives attractiveness. This is in marked contrast to data from normally sighted controls who exhibit strong across-subject agreement in facial attractiveness ratings. This variability may be attributable, in part, to atypical facial encoding strategies used by the newly sighted children. Overall, our results suggest that the development of facial attractiveness perception is likely to be vulnerable to early visual deprivation, pointing to the existence of a possible sensitive period early in the developmental trajectory.

Relatively rapid effects of testosterone on men's ratings of female attractiveness depend on relationship status and the attractiveness of stimulus faces.

Attractiveness judgements influence desires to initiate and maintain romantic relationships. Testosterone also predicts relationship initiation and maintenance; such effects may be driven by the hormone's modulation of attractiveness judgements, but no studies have investigated causal (and situation-dependent) effects of the hormone on these judgements. Using a placebo-controlled cross-over design, our preregistered analyses revealed order- and relationship- dependent effects: single heterosexual men judged the women as more appealing when testosterone was administered first (and placebo second), but marginally less appealing when placebo was administered first (and testosterone second). In a more complex model incorporating the women's attractiveness (as rated by an independent set of observers), however, we show that testosterone increases the appeal of women -but this effect depends upon the men's relationship status and the women's attractiveness. In partnered men (n = 53) who tend to derogate attractive alternatives (by rating them as less appealing), testosterone countered this effect, boosting the appeal of these attractive alternatives. In single men (n = 53), conversely, testosterone increased the appeal of low-attractive women. These differential effects highlight the possibility of a newly discovered mechanism whereby testosterone promotes male sexual reproduction through different routes depending on relationship status, promoting partner up- rather than down-grading when partnered and reducing choosiness when single. Further, such effects were relatively rapid [within 85 (±5) minutes], suggesting a potential non-genomic mechanism of action.

The Autumn Years: Age Differences in Preferences for Sexually Dimorphic Faces.

Life history theory proposes that it is adaptive for older people to shift investment away from reproductive effort (such as mating) to survivorship. However, it remains unclear whether the shift is also present at the psychological level. We investigated this question by comparing preferences for mate choice-relevant cues, sexually dimorphic facial images, between older (60 years and older, n = 92) and younger adults (18-40 years, n = 86). Results showed that older adults had significantly smaller preferences for sexually dimorphic faces of both sexes than young adults. Specifically, both older men and women showed no significant preferences for sexually dimorphic traits when judging opposite-sex faces, and smaller preferences for masculine male faces and feminine female faces when judging same-sex faces. Young adults generally showed strong preferences for masculine male faces and feminine female faces. In Study 2, we confirmed that the absent/reduced preferences in older adults for sexually dimorphic faces did not result from poor visual ability. The smaller preferences for sexually dimorphic facial cues in older adults compared to young adults suggest that older adults may shift away from mating-oriented psychology as they become less fertile.

Dominance or Integration? Influence of Sexual Dimorphism and Clothing Color on Judgments of Male and Female Targets' Attractiveness, Warmth, and Competence.

The face is an important source of information in social interactions. Prior studies exploring the mechanism of face perception were consistent with either dominance or integration theory. Studies have shown that both sexually dimorphic features and background cues play essential roles in the formation of impressions and the perception of facial attractiveness. In this study, we conducted two experiments to examine 539 participants' appraisal of attractiveness, warmth, and competence of the target faces of masculine and feminine men and women dressed in red, blue, or white. The results showed that: (1) feminized male/female faces were considered to have a higher degree of attractiveness, warmth, and competence, (2) people rated feminine faces wearing red higher in terms of attractiveness perception, while there was no significant effect of red on attractiveness perception of masculine faces, (3) when evaluating the warmth of targets, the promotion effect of red was found for feminine faces but not for masculine faces. This study, conducted in a pathogen disgust environment, provides direct evidence to support the integration theory over the dominance theory. Feminized red preference found in this study matches Chinese collectivism and the red cultural heritage, which has an important value for people's daily impression management and consumption decisions.

A CBCT Evaluation of Esthetic Preference Regarding the Perceived Facial Attractiveness of Young Korean Female Adults with a Normal Skeletal Pattern.

The aim of this study was to determine the factors that affect esthetic preference regarding the perceived facial attractiveness of young Korean female adults with a normal skeletal pattern using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). After reorienting the CBCT images of 40 young Korean female adults, three-dimensional (3D) measurements were analyzed, and five 3D facial images were digitally constructed. A computer-based questionnaire was used to determine perceived facial attractiveness by scoring from 1 (very unattractive) to 10 (very attractive). Esthetic perception and the most influential facial view and component were examined and compared by orthodontists, general dentists, and laypeople to evaluate facial attractiveness. Compared to the unattractive group, the attractive group had significantly greater values for Pog-NB, L1SI-FH, U lip thickness, L lip-U lip, and Nasolabial angle, along with significantly lower values for U1SI-FH and Cant of U lip; the attractive group also had a more retruded U1MP (p < 0.01), L1MP (p < 0.01), U lip (p < 0.05), and L lip (p < 0.01) relative to N, as well as a more retruded U lip (p < 0.05) and L lip (p <0.001) relative to esthetic lines. Orthodontists and general dentists were more likely to consider the profile view. When evaluating facial attractiveness, orthodontists and laypeople more often focused on the lips and chin. When evaluating facial attractiveness, all evaluators showed a high esthetic preference for retroclination and retrusion of the incisors and lips, but there were some differences in how they perceived facial attractiveness. Therefore, the ultimate perception of facial attractiveness needs to be based on the esthetic perceptions of laypeople.

Perception of Nasal Aesthetics: Nose or Face?

BACKGROUND: Aesthetic assessment of the nose might not be limited to the nose as an isolated facial unit but might be the result of a broader perception of the whole facial image. The aim of this study was to investigate if the aesthetic evaluation of a nose is made by sole observation of the nose or influenced by the other features of the face. METHODS: Nose and face photographs of 20 voluntary models were taken from five different angles and merged into a single image of just the noses and whole faces of each model. First the nose and then the face photos were sent to a reviewer group consisting of 100 individuals from different professions to evaluate the nose's beauty on standard questionnaires with a four-week interval to complicate the recall process. RESULTS: Aesthetic evaluation of the isolated nose (Group 1) and the nose with the whole face (Group 2) were compared through Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores ranging from 1 to 10 (1: the least, 10: the highest). The mean VAS score of the Whole Face Group (5.26 ± 1.28) was significantly higher than the score of the Isolated Nose Group (4.50 ± 1.32) (p 0.001). There was no significant difference between the scores of reviewers considering their gender, profession, or experience of having an aesthetic operation previously. CONCLUSION: Current study revealed that in the evaluation of the beauty of the nose, the holistic perception of the face is as important as the perfection of the angles and proportions within the nose itself. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Non-Pregnant and Pregnant Women's Femininity Preferences in Male Faces: Tests Based on Within- and Between-Sex Sexual Dimorphism Facial Manipulations.

Past research on women's preferences for male facial masculinity in Western cultures has produced inconsistent results. Some inconsistency may be related to the use of different facial stimulus manipulations (e.g., between-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation or within-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation) that do not perfectly avoid non-facial cues, and pregnancy status may also influence women's face preferences. We therefore recruited pregnant and nonpregnant Chinese women and manipulated the sexual dimorphism of male facial stimuli to explore the influences of manipulation methods, non-facial cues, and pregnancy status on face preferences. Results showed that: (1) in contrast with a general masculinity preference observed in Western cultures, both pregnant and nonpregnant Chinese women preferred feminized and neutral male faces generally; (2) pregnant women's preference for feminized male faces was stable across manipulation methods, while nonpregnant women preferred feminized male faces except under between-sex sexual dimorphism manipulation; and (3) manipulation methods, rather than non-facial cues, influenced participants' face preferences. Specifically, women showed the strongest preferences for femininity when face stimuli were manipulated by within-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation, followed by unmanipulated faces and between-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation. This effect was stronger for nonpregnant women in the unmanipulated condition and for pregnant women in the between-sex sexual dimorphic facial manipulation. This research provides empirical evidence of women's preferences for sexual dimorphism in male faces in a non-Western culture, as well as the effects of facial manipulation methods, pregnancy status, and the interactions between these factors.

Demographic and Geographic Differences in Facial Masculinity Preferences Among Gay and Bisexual Men in China.

This study examined demographic and geographic differences in facial masculinity preferences among gay and bisexual men in China. The final sample included 2595 participants whose data were obtained from four published data sets and one unpublished data set. Demographic variables included sexual self-label, sexual orientation, age, educational level, and occupational status. Geographic variables were classified based on the IP addresses of respondents including North-South division, administrative division, economic regional division, and modernization division. There were significant differences in facial masculinity preferences in demographic variables. Gay men preferred more masculinized faces than did bisexual men. "Tops" preferred feminized faces, whereas "bottoms" and "versatiles" preferred masculinized faces. Participants aged 20-29 years preferred more masculinized faces than did those aged 16-19 years and older than 30. Also, the results indicated significant differences in facial masculinity preferences in geographic variables. Participants living in South China preferred more masculinized faces than did those living in North China. Concerning administrative division, individuals living in South China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and Jiangxi) preferred more masculinized faces than did those living in other regions. Participants living in first-tier cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen) preferred more masculinized faces than did those living in other cities. The findings implicated context-dependent variability in facial masculinity preferences among gay and bisexual men; facial trait-attribution processes may contribute to these individual differences.

Chinese Aesthetic Mask: Three Forehead and Five Eyes-Holistic Processing and Facial Attractiveness.

Human face processing has been attributed to holistic processing. Here, we ask whether humans are sensitive to configural information when perceiving facial attractiveness. By referring to a traditional Chinese aesthetic theory-Three Forehead and Five Eyes-we generated a series of faces that differed in spacing between facial features. We adopted a two-alternative forced-choice task in Experiment 1 and a rating task in Experiment 2 to assess attractiveness. Both tasks showed a consistent result: The faces which fit the Chinese aesthetic theory were chosen or rated as most attractive. This effect of configural information on facial attractiveness was larger for faces with highly attractive features than for faces with low attractive features. These findings provide experimental evidence for the traditional Chinese aesthetic theory. This issue can be further explored from the perspective of culture in the future.

Mating Strategies and the Masculinity Paradox: How Relationship Context, Relationship Status, and Sociosexuality Shape Women's Preferences for Facial Masculinity and Beardedness.

According to the dual mating strategy model, in short-term mating contexts women should forego paternal investment qualities in favor of mates with well-developed secondary sexual characteristics and dominant behavioral displays. We tested whether this model explains variation in women's preferences for facial masculinity and beardedness in male faces. Computer-generated composites that had been morphed to appear ± 50% masculine were rated by 671 heterosexual women (M age = 31.72 years, SD = 6.43) for attractiveness when considering them as a short-term partner, long-term partner, a co-parent, or a friend. They then completed the Revised Sociosexual Inventory (SOI-R) to determine their sexual openness on dimensions of desire, behavior, and attitudes. Results showed that women's preferences were strongest for average facial masculinity, followed by masculinized faces, with feminized faces being least attractive. In contrast to past research, facial masculinity preferences were stronger when judging for co-parenting partners than for short-term mates. Facial masculinity preferences were also positively associated with behavioral SOI, negatively with desire, and were unrelated to global or attitudinal SOI. Women gave higher ratings for full beards than clean-shaven faces. Preferences for beards were higher for co-parenting and long-term relationships than short-term relationships, although these differences were not statistically significant. Preferences for facial hair were positively associated with global and attitudinal SOI, but were unrelated to behavioral SOI and desire. Although further replication is necessary, our findings indicate that sexual openness is associated with women's preferences for men's facial hair and suggest variation in the association between sociosexuality and women's facial masculinity preferences.

Looking for Mr(s) Right: Decision bias can prevent us from finding the most attractive face.

In realistic and challenging decision contexts, people may show biases that prevent them from choosing their favored options. For example, astronomer Johannes Kepler famously interviewed several candidate fiancées sequentially, but was rejected when attempting to return to a previous candidate. Similarly, we examined human performance on searches for attractive faces through fixed-length sequences by adapting optimal stopping computational theory developed from behavioral ecology and economics. Although economics studies have repeatedly found that participants sample too few options before choosing the best-ranked number from a series, we instead found overlong searches with many sequences ending without choice. Participants employed irrationally high choice thresholds, compared to the more lax, realistic standards of a Bayesian ideal observer, which achieved better-ranked faces. We consider several computational accounts and find that participants most resemble a Bayesian model that decides based on altered attractiveness values. These values may produce starkly different biases in the facial attractiveness domain than in other decision domains.

Does the beauty premium effect always exist? - an ERP study of the facial attractiveness stereotype in public's attitudes toward in-Service Chinese civil servant.

Objectives: Civil servants image is one of the most important representatives of government image. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the factors affecting the public's attitudes toward in-service civil servants. The current study aims to learn whether female facial attractiveness would affect the male public's attitudes toward in-service civil servants using event-related potentials. Methods: Participants were recruited to view attractive/unattractive faces followed by positive/negative adjectives. We observed that positive adjectives after unattractive faces elicited smaller N400 amplitudes than negative adjectives, and the N400 amplitude elicited by attractive faces after negative adjectives was significantly smaller than that elicited by unattractive faces. What's more, we found that the voltage of N400 was negative correlated with reaction time. Results: It showed that the incongruity of physically appearance and in-service civil servant positions lead to longer reaction time. The unattractive civil servant is more congruent with positive adjectives than the attractive one in the public's mind. Conclusion: We explain these findings from two aspects. First, the public is more rational for in-service civil servants, and factors that are unrelated to governing capacity, such as physical attractiveness, do not influence their attitudes. Second, civil servants are the position that requires technical ability to serve the public rather than communication ability, which was represented by physically attractive.

The role of sex hormones and social determinants in assessment of facial attractiveness.

OBJECTIVES: The current study is focused on assessing the factors of attractiveness of opposite-sex individuals based on evaluating photographs of their faces. BACKGROUND: When assessing the attractiveness, factors of both, the assessed individual and the assessor play a role. The relationship of the preference for partners based on their physical appearance with the markers of prenatal testosterone is not fully understood. METHODS: Sex hormone levels were measured in saliva, while age, social status, income and occupation were recorded. A total of 30 women and 35 men were enrolled. RESULTS: The identified factors determining the attractiveness of menare their age and prenatal testosterone level (second-to-fourth digit ratio - 2D:4D). The attractiveness of men is more influenced by the factors of evaluating women, namely the rating assigned to the men positively correlates with age, 2D:4D, and salivary estradiol of the evaluating women. The attractiveness of women correlated negatively with age and positively with prenatal exposure to androgens (2D:4D).The women with lower estradiol were rated higher by men who themselves had low estradiol levels. The attractiveness did not correlate with current testosterone. CONCLUSION: This study contributes to the knowledge on the role of sex hormones in human sexuality and partner choice. Further studies should include genetic factors of testosterone metabolism. (Tab. 4, Ref. 23).