This just in from the front lines of what women want: the key to attractiveness may be as simple as tilting your head back.
A new study has found that the angle from which your face is viewed can make you appear more masculine or feminine (and hence, more conventionally attractive to the opposite gender).
The researchers asked participants to rate the relative attractiveness, femininity, and masculinity of a series of 3-D computer-generated images tilted at various angles. Results showed that male faces tilted backwards (simulating looking up) were deemed the best looking.
Here’s head researcher Dr Darren Burke:
Human facial attractiveness from an evolutionary perspective has been extensively studied, and the influence of feminine and masculine facial features on attractiveness is relatively well known.
A gap in our knowledge, however, is the evolutionary origin of what is considered masculine and feminine about facial features. Our research investigated if looking at the face from different perspectives as a result of the height differential between men and women influenced perceived masculinity or femininity. The research found the way we angle our faces affects our attractiveness to the opposite sex.
In short, because men have been taller through the ages, if they tilt their heads backwards just slightly during conversation, they can appear to be more masculine. (Conversely, as the shorter sex, women were found to appear more “feminine” when their head is tilted down.)
These findings are still only in their first stages, though.
While the research provides important information about our evolution, the findings also offer some clues to help unravel the mysteries of mateship rituals in the 21st century. The next step is to determine if people use this effect in real-world mate-attraction scenarios.
—Photo Caitlinator/via Flickr