The Role of Art Expertise and Symmetry on Facial Aesthetic Preferences
Humans, like other species, have a preference for symmetrical visual stimuli, a preference that is influenced by factors such as age, sex, and artistic training. In particular, artistic training seems to decrease the rejection of asymmetry in abstract stimuli. However, it is not known whether the sa...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Symmetry |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/14/2/423 |
| _version_ | 1797476355099590656 |
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| author | Luis Carlos Pereira Monteiro Victória Elmira Ferreira do Nascimento Amanda Carvalho da Silva Ana Catarina Miranda Givago Silva Souza Rachel Coelho Ripardo |
| author_facet | Luis Carlos Pereira Monteiro Victória Elmira Ferreira do Nascimento Amanda Carvalho da Silva Ana Catarina Miranda Givago Silva Souza Rachel Coelho Ripardo |
| author_sort | Luis Carlos Pereira Monteiro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Humans, like other species, have a preference for symmetrical visual stimuli, a preference that is influenced by factors such as age, sex, and artistic training. In particular, artistic training seems to decrease the rejection of asymmetry in abstract stimuli. However, it is not known whether the same trend would be observed in relation to concrete stimuli such as human faces. In this article, we investigated the role of expertise in visual arts, music, and dance, in the perceived beauty and attractiveness of human faces with different asymmetries. With this objective, the beauty and attractiveness of 100 photographs of faces with different degrees of asymmetry were evaluated by 116 participants with different levels of art expertise. Expertise in visual arts and dance was associated with the extent to which facial asymmetry influenced the beauty ratings assigned to the faces. The greater the art expertise in visual arts and dance, the more indifferent to facial asymmetry the participant was to evaluate beauty. The same effect was not found for music and neither for attractiveness ratings. These findings are important to help understand how face aesthetic evaluation is modified by artistic training and the difference between beauty and attractiveness evaluations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:57:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b1f6e554dc164c3dbd3f3533c070a24a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-8994 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T20:57:43Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Symmetry |
| spelling | doaj.art-b1f6e554dc164c3dbd3f3533c070a24a2023-11-23T22:18:17ZengMDPI AGSymmetry2073-89942022-02-0114242310.3390/sym14020423The Role of Art Expertise and Symmetry on Facial Aesthetic PreferencesLuis Carlos Pereira Monteiro0Victória Elmira Ferreira do Nascimento1Amanda Carvalho da Silva2Ana Catarina Miranda3Givago Silva Souza4Rachel Coelho Ripardo5Neuroscience and Cell Biology Graduate Program, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, BrazilFaculty of Psychology, Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, BrazilFaculty of Biological Sciences, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, BrazilNeuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program, Center for Behavioral Theory and Research, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, BrazilCenter for Tropical Medicine, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66055-240, BrazilNeuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program, Center for Behavioral Theory and Research, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, BrazilHumans, like other species, have a preference for symmetrical visual stimuli, a preference that is influenced by factors such as age, sex, and artistic training. In particular, artistic training seems to decrease the rejection of asymmetry in abstract stimuli. However, it is not known whether the same trend would be observed in relation to concrete stimuli such as human faces. In this article, we investigated the role of expertise in visual arts, music, and dance, in the perceived beauty and attractiveness of human faces with different asymmetries. With this objective, the beauty and attractiveness of 100 photographs of faces with different degrees of asymmetry were evaluated by 116 participants with different levels of art expertise. Expertise in visual arts and dance was associated with the extent to which facial asymmetry influenced the beauty ratings assigned to the faces. The greater the art expertise in visual arts and dance, the more indifferent to facial asymmetry the participant was to evaluate beauty. The same effect was not found for music and neither for attractiveness ratings. These findings are important to help understand how face aesthetic evaluation is modified by artistic training and the difference between beauty and attractiveness evaluations.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/14/2/423symmetryaestheticspreferenceart expertshuman faces |
| spellingShingle | Luis Carlos Pereira Monteiro Victória Elmira Ferreira do Nascimento Amanda Carvalho da Silva Ana Catarina Miranda Givago Silva Souza Rachel Coelho Ripardo The Role of Art Expertise and Symmetry on Facial Aesthetic Preferences Symmetry symmetry aesthetics preference art experts human faces |
| title | The Role of Art Expertise and Symmetry on Facial Aesthetic Preferences |
| title_full | The Role of Art Expertise and Symmetry on Facial Aesthetic Preferences |
| title_fullStr | The Role of Art Expertise and Symmetry on Facial Aesthetic Preferences |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Role of Art Expertise and Symmetry on Facial Aesthetic Preferences |
| title_short | The Role of Art Expertise and Symmetry on Facial Aesthetic Preferences |
| title_sort | role of art expertise and symmetry on facial aesthetic preferences |
| topic | symmetry aesthetics preference art experts human faces |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/14/2/423 |
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