Physical Appearance and Society

David B. Sarwer PhD

Leanne Magee BA

This chapter was supported, in part, by funding from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (Grant #K23 DK60023-03) to Dr. Sarwer.

This chapter reviews the evolutionary and psychological literatures on the role of physical appearance in contemporary society and its relationship with plastic surgery. The discussion begins with a review of physiological influences on appearance and perceptions of attractiveness and it draws from both human and animal research and focuses on characteristics of attractiveness such as youthfulness, symmetry, and averageness. The review then turns to sociocultural influences on physical appearance, focusing on research investigating the importance of physical appearance throughout the life span. Included in this section is a discussion of the role of the mass media in the development and promotion of standards of beauty. Throughout the chapter, we discuss how these factors contribute to the “beauty bias” so prevalent in today’s society, as well as the resulting pursuit of plastic surgery.

PHYSIOLOGICAL INFLUENCES ON PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS

Darwin’s conceptualization of natural selection is one of the earliest discussions of importance of physical appearance (1). According to the theory of natural selection, the goal of all species is survival and successful reproduction. Identifying a mate who can successfully contribute to reproduction is a central part of that process. Through natural selection, specific physical characteristics have evolved in ways to signal an animal’s (or human’s) reproductive availability (2). As a result, these characteristics typically serve as the foundation for what is considered “attractive” in another individual. Thus, the notion that a healthy physical appearance, whether defined by facial or bodily characteristics, is considered attractive is not surprising.

In the animal world (and to a certain extent in the human world) a desirable characteristic, such as bright color, might draw the attention of potential mates; but it may also draw the attention of potential predators who might interfere with reproduction. Darwin’s explanation of the development of these “attention-grabbing” characteristics was sexual selection. Although these traits potentially may interfere with survival, they evolve to provide surviving animals with a distinct reproductive advantage over those without these characteristics.

Facial Appearance

Facial appearance is likely the predominant marker of chronological age. Features such as clear skin, bright eyes, and lustrous hair are typically equated with a youthful appearance and are desirable for both men and women in many cultures throughout the world (3). Thus, they are important characteristics of attractiveness, particularly when they develop in symmetry. The development of an “average” facial appearance also may suggest reproductive health.

Youthfulness

The development of adult facial features at puberty signals reproductive potential. Increased testosterone contributes to the development of a large mandible, prominent eyebrow ridges, and cheekbones characteristic of an adult male. High levels of estrogen in females are associated with the development of facial features such as prominent cheekbones and clear, smooth skin (4, 5).

These characteristics also may convey a message of health (6, 7). Testosterone production at puberty suppresses immune functioning and, thus, increases susceptibility to disease producing pathogens (8). The physical characteristics of adult males, therefore, may actually communicate that the male has been sufficiently resistant to illness to produce those features. As such, the features suggest reproductive quality (9). Supporting this theory, Mueller and Mazur found that college men with broad chins reported more girlfriends and more frequent sexual intercourse (10). Estrogen works in a similar fashion, in that the byproducts of estrogen can be toxic to the body. Like testosterone for men, the physical expressions of high estrogen may serve as markers that the individual’s immune system is healthy and strong, thereby communicating reproductive potential (5).

Some research indirectly supports the notion that attractiveness signals health and resistance to illness. In cultures with high pathogen prevalence (i.e., Nigeria, Zambia, and India), as compared to those cultures with low pathogen prevalence (i.e., Germany, Sweden, and Norway), men and women rated physical attractiveness as a more important trait in long-term mate selection as compared to other personality characteristics (11). Nevertheless, there is as yet no empirical evidence to suggest that more attractive humans are healthier or experience greater resistance to illness. Of course, the physical appearance (and attractiveness) of ill or dying persons often deteriorates as testimony to their physical vulnerability.

While a youthful appearance is considered attractive, aging is not. For women and men, ratings of youthfulness and facial attractiveness are highly correlated (12, 13, 14). Women are rated as less feminine as they grow older, whereas men’s ratings of masculinity do not vary with age (15). As noted above, age signals reproductive potential. With increasing age, fertility declines for females of many mammalian species, but has little impact on male fertility (16).

A woman’s youthful appearance may trump her chronological age in terms of perceptions of attractiveness. Younger looking faces were judged by men from five different populations as more attractive as compared to age-appropriate or older faces (17). Similarly, digitally altering facial features to make them appear more youthful results in higher ratings of attractiveness (12). Repeated evidence that women’s standards of attractiveness are more closely tied with youthfulness than they are for men is consistent with evolutionary theories of sexual selection (18).

Symmetry

Like youthfulness, symmetry of facial and body features is thought to phenotypically demonstrate pathogen resistance (19). In the absence of illness, paired body features are thought to develop in concert, leading to an increasingly symmetrical and, thus,
more attractive appearance. Evolutionary theorists have proposed that the ability to develop symmetrically in environmentally harsh conditions will be conferred upon only the healthiest and hardiest of a given population (20).

Numerous studies have confirmed the reproductive advantages of symmetrical over asymmetrical animals in a variety of species (21, 22, 23, 24). The relationship between symmetry and physical attractiveness also has been supported by some (6,19,25), but not all (4), studies of humans. Men and women with more symmetrical facial features are judged as more attractive (6,19,25). Furthermore, attractiveness ratings of faces were increased when digital technology was employed to enhance symmetry (26). Both men and women preferred symmetric faces, although the preference was stronger for men (7,19). The degree of facial symmetry also appears to influence behavior. Men with more symmetrical features, as compared to those who are less symmetrical, have reported an earlier onset of sexual activity and increased number of sexual experiences (7).

Averageness

Intuitively, an “average” appearance is not associated with beauty (27). However, averageness may actually signal reproductive health, and, therefore, serve as a marker of attractiveness. Those who fall near the mean of the population distribution are probably less likely to be bearers of potentially harmful or mutated genes than those who fall at the extremes of the distribution (28, 29).

Studies of human faces have supported the notion that averageness is characterized as attractive. Several investigations have used digital imaging techniques to “breed” or combine faces of varying facial appearance (28). The bred composite faces of the opposite sex were judged as more attractive for both men and women than the individual faces that comprised the composite (30). The more faces used to make the composite, the more attractive the composite face was rated (28). Nevertheless, some experts believe that symmetry is a more salient feature of attractiveness than averageness (6).

Though the average composite faces were judged as more attractive, the most beautiful of the digitally combined faces were far from average, in terms of both the specific facial features and overall facial structure (31, 32). The highest rated composite for females was that of a petite face with a smaller than average mouth and jawline, paired with full lips as well as pronounced eyes and cheekbones (32, 33). Preferences for attractive faces appear to occur quite early in life. Three-month-old to 6-month-old infants have been found to be more attentive to attractive versus unattractive female faces (34, 35). Additionally, 6-month-old infants were found to prefer mathematically averaged prototypical faces in the same way that adults do (36). Three-year-old children show consensus with adults in their ratings of attractiveness of other children (34). Such discriminative abilities are likely present prior to significant socialization and exposure to sociocultural standards of beauty, suggesting that preferences for attractive faces are innate (37). Studies also have suggested that preferences for attractive faces are relatively consistent across race, nationality, and age (33,38). Both sets of findings lend further support to the evolutionary influence on perceptions of attractiveness.

Body Appearance

The waist-hip ratio (WHR) is a measure of the circumference of the waist relative to the hips. It reflects the distribution of fat between the upper and lower body relative to the amount of abdominal fat and is thought to signal physical beauty and reproductive potential (39). Prepubertal males and females have comparable WHRs. During puberty, increased estrogen in females contributes to the addition of fat deposits in the breasts and hips. For males, increased testosterone levels
stimulate fat deposits in abdominal regions while inhibiting fat deposits in the hips and thighs.

Women with a WHR lower than 0.8 (a waist that is less than 80% the size of the hips) have been rated by men as more attractive, younger, healthier, and more feminine looking as compared to those with a higher WHR (39, 40, 41). A WHR of 0.6 to 0.8 (a waist that is 60% to 80% the size of the hips) is typically representative of healthy, fertile women (42). However, waist and hip size are not the only body characteristics that influence determinants of female attractiveness. When WHR is held constant, women with larger breasts were rated as more attractive then women with smaller breasts (43). WHR may similarly influence ratings of attractiveness for men. Healthy men have WHRs between 0.85 and 0.95 (44). Women typically consider men with such ratios as more attractive as compared to men with larger or smaller WHRs (40). However, a male’s status also influenced female judgments of male attactiveness, which bestows reproductive advantages by providing both short-term and long-term access to the male’s social and economic resources. Thus, women rated men who have WHRs between 0.85 and 0.95, as well as higher financial status, as the most attractive of potential partners (45). These ratios appear to be related to reproductive behavior. Males with a high shoulder to hip ratio and women with a low WHR were found to report sexual intercourse at an earlier age, more sexual partners, and more sexual experiences outside of an ongoing relationship (46).

Like several of the facial characteristics discussed above, the relationship between WHR, reproductive status, and judgments of attractiveness may be moderated by health. For women with a WHR greater than 0.8, and men with a WHR greater than 1.0, the risk of obesity-related comorbidities (such as type II diabetes and hypertension) increases (47). For females, increasing body fat distribution, as indicated by WHR, is negatively associated with the probability of conception. WHR is believed to have a greater impact on likelihood of conception than either age or obesity (48).

Gender Differences

Although men and women the world over agree that certain facial and bodily characteristics define attractiveness, there may be a considerable gender difference in what is considered most attractive in a potential mate (49, 50). Men seem particularly drawn to features that signal reproductive potential. This may be a function of the relatively time-limited commitment that males need for reproduction. A male need only be present during conception in order to fulfill his evolutionary destiny of promoting his genetic material to the next generation. As such, he can reproduce with many women in a short period of time, concerning himself with those aspects of appearance that signal reproductive health.

Women are similarly attracted to those physical characteristics that indicate reproductive potential. However, evolutionarily speaking, women have a greater investment in reproduction and, thus, must also consider a potential mate’s long-term abilities to obtain resources and provide protection for both her and the offspring. This suggests that, at least from a physical perspective, females would find muscular and athletic males most attractive because of their abilities to protect and provide. In contemporary society, financial and social strength, to an extent, have supplanted physical strength as characteristics women find attractive in men. Across many cultures, women rated financial strength as more important than physical characteristics when indicating traits desired in a potential mate (3,51). The observations that women were influenced by both a mate’s potential to provide as well as his physical attractiveness, whereas men were swayed more by physical beauty alone, may reflect fundamental biological differences that serve an adaptive, evolutionary purpose as much as they reflect gender differences shaped by years of socialization (27).

The Relationship to Plastic Surgery

Research of evolutionary biologists and psychologists suggests that specific facial and bodily characteristics indicate reproductive potential and therefore, are considered attractive. Thus, they have a specific evolutionary purpose. These characteristics not only impact our preferences for the appearance of others, but likely impact efforts to improve our appearance through a variety of means, including plastic surgery.

Within the past decade, there has been an expanding market of products from moisturizers to toothpastes designed to turn back the hands of time on aging faces. Some of the most popular cosmetic surgical procedures, such as facelifts and blepharoplasties, are anti-aging techniques designed to restore one’s facial appearance to a more youthful state (52). Perhaps even more reflective of the desire for a youthful appearance is the explosion in popularity of botulinum toxin (Botox^®) injection treatments for facial wrinkles. Injections such as these were the most commonly performed surgical or minimally-invasive treatment in the United States in 2004 (52).

Two of the most popular cosmetic surgical procedures, liposuction and abdominoplasty, can alter WHR. As a result, they may improve perceptions of attractiveness, although this has yet to be empirically demonstrated. While breast size does not directly influence WHR, women with larger breasts are judged as more attractive and healthier looking compared to women with smaller breasts (43). Considering this finding, the popularity of breast enhancing brassieres and breast augmentation surgery is not surprising (53).

Intuitively, women’s greater acceptance and use of appearance enhancing tools can explain the traditional 9:1 female to male ratio among cosmetic surgery patients (52). Perhaps the gender difference also can be understood in the context of evolutionary theory, which suggests that physical appearance is a more important characteristic for women than for men. At least two studies have suggested that female cosmetic surgery patients are strongly dedicated to health and fitness (54, 55). As a result, for some individuals, it may make a great deal of sense from an evolutionary and psychological perspective to invest thousands of dollars in elective, cosmetic surgery on an otherwise healthy body (53).

SOCIOCULTURAL INFLUENCES ON PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Although evolutionary determinants of reproductive status certainly impact perceptions of attractiveness, they unarguably occur within a powerful sociocultural environment. The impact of sociocultural influences on the development of physical appearance ideals has received a great deal of attention in both academic research and popular culture. From the research, it is safe to conclude that a variety of sources influence our perceptions of attractiveness. In turn, these sources likely influence the pursuit of plastic surgery as well. The discussion of these influences will be examined developmentally and then will turn to the unique influence of the mass media.

Childhood and Adolescence

Parental Influence

Parents may influence their children with their general attitudes and behaviors toward their own, and their children’s, bodies (56, 57). Both mothers and fathers have been found to place moderate amounts of importance on their children’s attractiveness, however, mothers were significantly more likely to experience outside pressures from others to improve their children’s appearance (58). While the mass media often indicts mothers in the development of their daughter’s body image and eating disturbances, empirical findings have been rather inconsistent. Some studies
have found a positive connection between mother and daughter concerns about eating and weight (59, 60, 61, 62, 63), while others have not (58,64, 65, 66, 67). (Chapter 4 provides a more detailed discussion of the developmental influences on body image.)

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