Plump lips, big eyes, regular facial features that correspond to the rule of the "golden ratio" - these are, it would seem, signs of true beauty and attractiveness. Nonsense, scientists say! And they cite evidence of how the traits we tend to consider disfiguring give us charm and make us more attractive in the eyes of others.
The first myth that scientists have dispelled is that we are attracted by symmetry in faces. On the contrary, they argue, asymmetry makes the face more interesting.
What are the charismatic faces of such stars as Dmitry Nagiyev, Nyusha, Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Meg Ryan, Melanie Griffith, Christina Ricci or the actress from Game of Thrones Natalie Dormer, who played the role of Margaery Tyrrel.
Moreover, studies have shown that perfectly symmetrical faces look strange from the point of view of ordinary people.
No matter how much they tell us that there should be a zest in the appearance, the researchers also prove that the simpler and more expressionless your face, the better. The fact is that there are fewer painted beauties and beauties on earth than ordinary people with average facial features.
And we, on average, like faces that are similar to ours. Back in 1878, the Nature newspaper noted this effect. And a study published in the journal Human Nature argued that we like simple faces better because we intuitively think there are more genes mixed in them. And the greater the diversity of genes, the higher the resistance to diseases and parasites and, accordingly, the greater the advantages in the evolutionary race for healthy offspring.
Another study, published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology, suggests that people like those who look older. True, we are talking exclusively about women - they like more mature men. Scientists linked this factor to the fact that in the eyes of a woman, an adult man is associated with a wealthy person, which means that he can potentially become a good father to her child. Here, by the way, one more interesting detail was observed: older men are more often liked by more successful and career-oriented women.
It is not surprising that recently Hollywood has embraced a fashion for bearded men - as you know, facial hair makes you look more brutal and older than your age. And by the way, George Clooney is nowhere near that gray. Many years ago, the actor's stylist specifically began to dye his hair white - the “aged” Clooney, as it turned out, looks much more spectacular.
Finally, a completely unexpected feature of appearance that intuitively attracts us is scars! Of course, we all remember about the scars that "adorn men." Now it has been scientifically proven. A study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences found that men with scars can indeed be considered more attractive in the eyes of women.
As part of the experiment, scientists handed out photographs of 24 male and female students with scars on their faces. Then 200 students rated whether they liked the people in the photo. In addition, they had to express their opinion with which of the guys or girls in the pictures you can build a long-term relationship. The men with scars were rated by the students as very attractive, but more suitable for short-term relationships. The presence of scars on the faces of the girls did not in any way affect the students' opinion about whether they were beautiful or not and how long a relationship could be built with them.
Meanwhile, not only Joaquin Phoenix with his "cleft lip" or "Thor" Chris Hemsworth with a scar on his eyebrow are among the most attractive celebrities, but also Lisa Boyarskaya with a "mark" on her cheekbone and singer MakSim with a scar on the bridge of her nose.
