The effect of aging on facial attractiveness: An empirical and computational investigation

Dexian He; Clifford I. Workman; Yoed N. Kenett; Xianyou He; Anjan Chatterjee

doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103385

The effect of aging on facial attractiveness: An empirical and computational investigation

Dexian He, Clifford I. Workman, Yoed N. Kenett, Xianyou He, Anjan Chatterjee

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

How does aging affect facial attractiveness? We tested the hypothesis that people find older faces less attractive than younger faces, and furthermore, that these aging effects are modulated by the age and sex of the perceiver and by the specific kind of attractiveness judgment being made. Using empirical and computational network science methods, we confirmed that with increasing age, faces are perceived as less attractive. This effect was less pronounced in judgments made by older than younger and middle-aged perceivers, and more pronounced by men (especially for female faces) than women. Attractive older faces were perceived as elegant more than beautiful or gorgeous. Furthermore, network analyses revealed that older faces were more similar in attractiveness and were segregated from younger faces. These results indicate that perceivers tend to process older faces categorically when making attractiveness judgments. Attractiveness is not a monolithic construct. It varies by age, sex, and the dimensions of attractiveness being judged.

Original language	English
Article number	103385
Journal	Acta Psychologica
Volume	219
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103385
State	Published - Sep 2021
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors

Funding

This work was supported by the China Scholarship Council (D.H.), the SCNU Study Abroad Program for Elite Postgraduate Students and the Innovation Project of Graduate School of South China Normal University (D.H.), the National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research of the National Institutes of Health (F32DE029407 awarded to C.I.W.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31970984 awarded to X.H.), and the Edwin and Fannie Gray Hall Center for Human Appearance (A.C.). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Funders	Funder number
Edwin and Fannie Gray Hall Center for Human Appearance
National Institutes of Health
National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research	F32DE029407
National Natural Science Foundation of China	31970984
South China Normal University
China Scholarship Council

Keywords

Age
Attractiveness
Face perception
Network science
Sex

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10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103385

Cite this

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abstract = "How does aging affect facial attractiveness? We tested the hypothesis that people find older faces less attractive than younger faces, and furthermore, that these aging effects are modulated by the age and sex of the perceiver and by the specific kind of attractiveness judgment being made. Using empirical and computational network science methods, we confirmed that with increasing age, faces are perceived as less attractive. This effect was less pronounced in judgments made by older than younger and middle-aged perceivers, and more pronounced by men (especially for female faces) than women. Attractive older faces were perceived as elegant more than beautiful or gorgeous. Furthermore, network analyses revealed that older faces were more similar in attractiveness and were segregated from younger faces. These results indicate that perceivers tend to process older faces categorically when making attractiveness judgments. Attractiveness is not a monolithic construct. It varies by age, sex, and the dimensions of attractiveness being judged.",

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The effect of aging on facial attractiveness: An empirical and computational investigation

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

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