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Comparative Study
. 2008 Jan 7;275(1630):63-9.
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1073.

Evidence for adaptive design in human gaze preference

C A Conway  1 , B C Jones, L M DeBruine, A C Little
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Evidence for adaptive design in human gaze preference

C A Conway et al. Proc Biol Sci. .

Abstract

Many studies have investigated the physical cues that influence face preferences. By contrast, relatively few studies have investigated the effects of facial cues to the direction and valence of others' social interest (i.e. gaze direction and facial expressions) on face preferences. Here we found that participants demonstrated stronger preferences for direct gaze when judging the attractiveness of happy faces than that of disgusted faces, and that this effect of expression on the strength of attraction to direct gaze was particularly pronounced for judgements of opposite-sex faces (study 1). By contrast, no such opposite-sex bias in preferences for direct gaze was observed when participants judged the same faces for likeability (study 2). Collectively, these findings for a context-sensitive opposite-sex bias in preferences for perceiver-directed smiles, but not perceiver-directed disgust, suggest gaze preference functions, at least in part, to facilitate efficient allocation of mating effort, and evince adaptive design in the perceptual mechanisms that underpin face preferences.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Examples of smiling faces with direct and averted gaze and the interface used to assess preferences.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Significant interactions between sex of face judged and expression in the (a) laboratory and (b) online samples. Attraction to perceiver-directed smiles was stronger for judgements of opposite-sex than own-sex faces. There was no such opposite-sex bias in attraction to direct gaze for judgements of faces with disgusted expressions. In the y-axes, 3.5=chance (i.e. direct and averted gaze were equally attractive) and larger numbers indicate stronger attraction to direct gaze. Bars show means and s.e.m.s.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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