Men and women misjudge what the opposite sex finds attractive in facial features

A study using interactive 3D models of human heads found that women overestimated the facial femininity that men prefer in a female romantic partner, while men overestimated the facial masculinity that women prefer in a male romantic partner. The paper was published in PLOS ONE.

The ideal male and female body figures vary across cultures, time periods, and personal preferences. Traditionally, the ideal male body is described as tall, muscular, and broad-shouldered, with a V-shaped torso (wide shoulders, narrow waist) and well-defined muscles. The ideal female body is typically portrayed as curvy with an hourglass shape, meaning a defined waist, fuller hips, and a proportional bust.

However, beauty standards evolve. Historically, fuller figures were preferred in some eras, while slimmer or athletic builds have become more popular in modern times. Media, fashion, and social trends play a major role in shaping these ideals and influencing people’s perceptions of attractiveness. Health and functionality are also becoming more valued, with strong, fit bodies being seen as attractive for both men and women. Psychological research shows that self-confidence and posture can significantly enhance perceived attractiveness, regardless of body shape.

Study author David I. Perrett and his colleagues wanted to explore the perception of facial attractiveness. They aimed to determine the male face shape that women find most desirable and to compare it to the shape that men predict women will find most desirable. They did the same for female faces.

The authors hypothesized that the facial masculinity men predict women will desire would be higher than the masculinity of the face that women actually find most desirable. Similarly, the facial femininity that men find most attractive in female faces was expected to be lower than the femininity that women predicted men would desire. They also believed that the discrepancy between these predictions and real preferences would be greater when considering a short-term relationship compared to a long-term relationship. Additionally, the authors predicted that this misperception would be stronger in individuals who were less satisfied with the shape of their own face.

Free daily newsletter

Study participants were 144 U.K. residents, of whom 72 were men. The average age of the participants was around 22 years.

To study facial attractiveness, the authors used a set of 3D models of male and female faces. They started with two male and two female base faces, each of which was a composite of the shape, color, and texture of four faces of the same gender. The authors then used software to morph these models, creating various degrees of masculinity for male faces and various degrees of femininity for female faces.

Participants were presented with two male and two female faces, each accompanied by a slider that allowed them to adjust the masculinity of male faces or the femininity of female faces. They were first instructed to adjust the face to match their own appearance. Then, they were asked to adjust the male face to make it the most attractive to heterosexual women and the female face to make it the most attractive to heterosexual men. For both male and female faces, participants made these adjustments for both short-term and long-term relationships.

Results showed that women preferred a lower level of masculinity in male faces compared to what men predicted women would prefer. In other words, men overestimated the level of masculinity that women desired. Similarly, men preferred a lower level of femininity in female faces compared to what women predicted.

Men also thought that women would prefer a higher level of facial masculinity for short-term relationships than for long-term relationships. This difference was absent in women’s estimates of what men preferred in female faces. In addition, men tended to predict that women would prefer a level of facial masculinity higher than that of their own face. Similarly, women believed that men preferred female faces that were more feminine than their own. Individuals who were less satisfied with their own faces tended to make larger errors in estimating the preferences of the opposite sex.

“We have demonstrated a substantial misperception of what men and women predict the opposite sex to desire in terms of sexual dimorphism of face shape. Men overestimate the masculinity women desire, and women overestimate the femininity men desire. Our study also reveals widespread dissatisfaction with facial appearance. Most men and women had an ideal level of facial dimorphism that was greater than their own facial dimorphism. The dissatisfaction and misperception are related, in that the greater the misperception of others’ desires, the greater the index of dissatisfaction,” the study authors concluded.

The study sheds light on people’s perceptions of facial attractiveness. However, the measure of facial dissatisfaction used in the study was the difference between the masculinity/femininity of participants’ own faces and what they reported as their ideal faces. The researchers did not explicitly ask participants whether they were satisfied or dissatisfied with their own appearance. Additionally, romantic attractiveness in real-world settings is much more complex than simply the masculinity or femininity of a face.

The paper, “Misperception of the facial appearance that the opposite-sex desires,” was authored by David I. Perrett, Iris J. Holzleitner, and Xue Lei.