Original articlesIs symmetry a visual cue to attractiveness in the human female body?
Section snippets
Experiment 1: rating experiment
Twenty-five human female subjects [ages 20.2 ± (SD) 1.8 years, BMI 21.2 ± 2.1, WHR 0.78 ± 0.04] were video taped in front view using a Super-VHS video camera at a standard distance of 1 meter, and a full-color image of each female was frame grabbed using a Silicon Graphics Indy workstation. Female subjects were dressed in pale gray leotards and leggings. Hair was tied back so the neck was visible. Participants stood in a standard posture: the positions for feet were marked on the floor and each
Experiment 1: ratings experiment
The average attractiveness rating by the male observers of the female symmetric images was 4.74 ± 0.71, and for normal images was 4.81 ± 0.75. The average attractiveness rating by the female observers of the symmetric images was 5.06 ± 0.77, and for the normal images was 4.82 ± 0.79. No significant difference was found between the attractiveness ratings of symmetric versus normal images for the 30 male observers [beta (standardized regression coefficient) = −0.69, t = −0.82, df = 24, two-tailed
Discussion
When observers were asked to rate images for attractiveness, there was no significant difference in their rating of normal images (varying in symmetry) and their morphed (completely symmetric) versions. It might be argued that there is no perceptible difference in symmetry of the normal and averaged images, which is why they were not rated as different in attractiveness. However, that the morphed version of an image pair was preferred in the forced-choice experiment suggests this is not the
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Piers Cornelissen for his advice on statistical analysis and Esther Cohen-Tovée, Marion Petrie, and Sue Healy for their comments and constructive criticism of the manuscript.
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