Why Men Prefer Pretty Faces

channels.netscape.com ^ | Feb. 18, 2004 | channels.netscape.com

[crushelits]

Why Men Prefer Pretty Faces

So you think beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Think again. According to new research from the University of Exeter in Great Britain, the preference for pretty faces over ugly ones is embedded in our brains from the moment of birth and possibly prior to birth.

Newborn babies come fully equipped with built-in preferences, including a preference for an attractive face, that help them make sense of their new environment, report the BBC News Online and Newsweek magazine. The Exeter researchers showed more than 100 infants two images that were placed side by side. One was of an attractive face, while the other was a less attractive face. The babies, ranging in age from five hours old to two days old, spent about 80 percent of the time looking at the attractive face, while barely glancing at the unattractive face.

"You can show them pair after pair of faces that are matched for everything other than attractiveness. This leads to the conclusion that babies are born with a very detailed representation of the human face," Dr. Alan Slater, a psychologist at Exeter, explained to the BBC News. Why would infants have this capability? "It helps them to recognize familiar faces--particularly that of the mother--and it helps them in learning about the social world. Attractiveness is not simply in the eye of the beholder, it is in the brain of the newborn infant right from the moment of birth and possibly prior to birth," he added.
When those babies grow up, the preference for pretty faces doesn't change. And it crosses all cultures and geography as well. When an insular European is shown the faces of two Africans, the one he chooses as most attractive is also the same one an African chooses. And it works the other way around when an African is shown the faces of two Europeans.

"Although we think that standards of facial beauty vary over time and culture, they don't actually change that much," Slater explained to Newsweek. The evidence indicates that there is a biological and universal standard."

So don't blame a man when he can't help but look at a pretty face! He's biologically programmed that way.

[cyborg]

LOL

[thoughtomator]

One more pic of Susan Estrich and I declare Jihad.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

Beauty in all it's glory.
Delightful to the eyes.

[scab4faa]

[FixitGuy]

Doug, shame on you for that horrible pic of Estridge.

Even "Ma Kettle" was prettier than her.

And every time she's on, I think the TV's been taken over by Carol Channing!

[cyborg]

Why did you go and ping him for?! Oh well at least he can't post any of his favorite ladies ;-)

[FreedomCalls]

Susan Ostrich looks like that alien on the old STAR TREAK show.

That's it. I was wondering what that expression resembled. You nailed it.

[cyborg]

Tennis player right? I think she's a better model *LOL*

[blackbart.223]

She looks like Jabba The Hut. Even whiskey couldn't numb someone up enough to get close to her.

[paul51]

Care to post a pic of yourself?

[glock rocks]

She plays tennis?

[beyond the sea]

We never let Mom leave the house looking like that.

[sully777]

Who's that one on the left?

[F16Fighter]

Our experiment is working well -- The've become even more attractive now ;-)

If they they were DUers, I'd have been disappointed.

What's LaShawn's blogger website?

[finnman69]

[TheBrotherhood]

"She plays tennis?"

Yes, among other thengs.

[F16Fighter]

HEH! I mean that is an el perfecto match.

[cyborg]

http://www.lashawnbarber.com/

[sully777]

Laughin so hard I can't breath

[crushelits]