The look of love: eyes straight ahead, smile wide
by Galen Buckwalter | October 7th, 2008Dr. Lee recently blogged on a study about the importance of eye contact and smiles in attraction: Eye Contact Enhances Attraction (December 10, 2007). While she concluded that people who want to meet someone online should post photos of themselves smiling, the researchers of the study suggest that smiling and eye contact may have an even deeper evolutionary significance.
A fair amount of research has previously evaluated what facial features people find most attractive. Bilateral symmetry, ostensibly a marker of genetic fitness, is the feature men and women consistently point to most. The researchers of this study from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, UK, evaluated if facial expressions, indicative of social interest, also impact perceptions of attractiveness.
The researchers gave participants paired photos of nearly identical computer-generated faces. The faces were either smiling or expressing disgust. Each pair of pictures (smiling and disgusted) differed only in where the irises were pointed: looking straight at the viewer or off to the side.
Several hundred undergraduate students rated the faces for sexual attractiveness and likeability. Likeability was defined to be sexually neutral. Both men and women found faces looking straight at them to be more attractive and more likeable, even if the faces looked disgusted.
The researchers concluded that this link evolved to make mating easier by helping focus our attention on persons who are expressing interest in us. I find this assertion a bit overreaching. If this effect were found to be associated with reproductive fitness, e.g., the effect was amplified during ovulation, I would be less critical of their conclusion. But given the amount of neuroscience supporting a critical role for gaze in numerous types of relationships (look at the possible role for mirror neurons as a start), it seems premature to attach an evolutionary explanation to this finding. Gaze is a complex brain function that should be evaluated in many different types of relationships if we are to understand its function particularly in developing relationships.
Further Reading:
C.A. Conway, B.C. Jones, L.M. DeBruine, A.C. Little (2008). Evidence for adaptive design in human gaze preference Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 275 (1630), 63-69 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1073
Send to a Friend
| 
Print This Post
October 16th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I have experienced the smiling effect for many years now. I was always the most popular one at school. Always had people around me and it was just because my smile. Everyone would always tell me, I was going to get too wrinkle too soon. Never minded about it. I’m in my 50s now and still smiling. Always trying to look at the bright side of everything. I’ve always said that my smile is my best outfit and I like it. It’s within my personality. Now, I don’t know if this will help me find that special someone, which I hope it does,but the pics I post, are always smiling. Smiling and looking at the bright side of life’s ups and downs, has helped me overcome many sad and difficult moments. English is not my native language, sorry for the mistakes.
October 19th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
I have always smiled a lot. It’s just my natural look and I don’t even think about it. People normally react very positively toward me and I enjoy interacting with people you meet in everyday life
January 1st, 2009 at 10:18 pm
It’s hard not to naturally like someone who is smiling… well, unless that person is a used car salesman… but people naturally react in a very positive manner to a smiling face. Nobody wants to be with someone who is going to make them unhappy, right? We want someone who brings that joy into our lives.
January 6th, 2009 at 1:10 am
The main point is that you cannot get the same feeling by looking at some one’s hand, shoulder, or other body part because eyes are more communicative; there is a lot to the old saying that they are the window to the soul, whether its true or not.