Psychology Courses/Psychology 104: Social PsychologyCourse
- AuthorCari Herndon
Cari Herndon is an experienced teacher and curriculum developer, focused on creating more inclusive curricula. After she earned her M.Ed. in Secondary Education from DePaul University, she worked for ten years as a middle and high school science teacher. She is licensed to teach 4th – 12th grade science.
View bio - InstructorErin Long-Crowell
Erin has an M.Ed in adult education and a BS in psychology and a BS in management systems.
View bio
Learn what a baby face is and examine "attractive" baby face features in adults. See what baby face people have in common with examples of baby face celebrities.Updated: 11/21/2023
Table of Contents
- Physical Attractiveness
- What Is a Baby Face?
- The Baby Face Effect
- Lesson Summary
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the features of a baby face?
To have a baby face is exactly what it sounds like. This is someone whose features look like those of a baby: round face, large eyes and lips, small nose and chin.
Is having a baby face attractive?
One universal feature people find attractive is a baby face. We are attracted to this feature because it signals that the person is youthful. We also tend to want to take care of and protect a person with a baby face.
Do baby faces age well?
Having a baby face means that you tend to look younger than you really are, even as you age. Well after you are a baby, you continue to have the features of a baby: round face, large eyes and lips, small nose and chin.
What does it mean if you have a baby face?
To have a baby face is exactly what it sounds like. Someone with a baby face is someone whose features include a round face, large eyes and lips, small nose and chin, much like the features of a baby.
Table of Contents
- Physical Attractiveness
- What Is a Baby Face?
- The Baby Face Effect
- Lesson Summary
Although what we know about a person, their likes or dislikes, and how much we have in common with them, helps to drive our attraction to them, their physical attractiveness is also important. Our standards of physical attraction have changed over time. In the past, an overweight body could signal someone's wealth, as they could afford to feed themselves more and work less to obtain their wealth. More recently, athleticism is found to be more attractive. The pendulum of what is considered physically attractive swings back and forth, and throughout human history, we have seen much change. Much of what we find physically attractive is due to the culture to which we belong.
However, despite this, and even though everyone has different personal preferences, two factors guide physical attraction: ratios and symmetry. The different proportions of a person's body determine their ratios. Symmetry is how identical one side of a person's face is to the other.
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Ratios
The first important factor to consider when measuring a person's attractiveness is their ratio. This means something different for men and women.
For women, the most sought-after waist-to-hip ratio is commonly known as the hourglass or pear-shaped figure. The most physically attractive women have a low waist-to-hip ratio, about 7:10. This means that someone who meets this standard will have a 28-inch waist and 40-inch hips. Throughout the world, this is a common theme in what is found to be physically attractive, despite how different cultures might view other aspects of a woman's physical attractiveness. Many people believe that this is because it is an indicator of high fertility and the ability to have the maximum number of offspring, and there is research that suggests women who have a lower waist-to-hip ratio have higher cardiovascular health.
The Golden Ratio can be used to determine the attractiveness of a man. Along with height, broad shoulders, and a small waist, a ratio of 1:1.6 is considered to be physically attractive for men. This means that a man who has a waist that measures 40 inches should have shoulders that measure 64 inches. Men whose bodies have this proportion tend to have a torso that looks like an inverted triangle. This factor, plus the height of a man, indicates that he is strong, powerful, and able to protect and care for his offspring.
Symmetry
Another important factor in determining the physical attractiveness of a person is their facial symmetry. Our entire body has what is called bilateral symmetry. This means that what we have on the right side of our body, we tend to have the exact mirror image on our left. Of course, there are small differences throughout our bodies, including in our faces. For example, we may see that a person's nose points slightly in one direction or has one nostril larger than the other. These small differences in a person's facial symmetry add up to an overall symmetrical or asymmetrical look, which determines how attractive someone is. The fewer differences between both sides of a person's face, the more attractive they are.
The commonly agreed-upon explanation for this preference is that when a person's face is asymmetrical, this indicates that there is a problem with how they have developed or how they are continuing to develop. It may be that they have an infection or injury, or that they have some DNA mutation or disease. This results in the decreased ability to produce viable offspring. However, this affects more than our sexual attraction to each other and can also affect how we select who we surround ourselves with.
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What is a baby face? A person who has a baby face appears more infant-like, creating a sense that the person is more youthful. There can even be baby face adults. There are certain features that baby-faced people share. Having a baby face changes the way people perceive and act towards us.
Baby Face Features
A good baby face definition is that they appear to be very similar to that of an infant or young animal. They include large eyes, lips, and foreheads and a generally small nose and chin. Their faces may be rounder in shape, much like a baby's. These features tell our brains that this person is to be treated kindly and protected. Many people exhibit these features.
Baby Faced Celebrities
Both real and made-up characters exhibit baby faces including:
- Betty Boop
- Mickey Mouse
- Hilary Clinton
- Leonardo DiCaprio
- LL Cool J
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Having a baby face can change how we are perceived and how people treat us. When viewing someone with the features of a baby face, such as big eyes, small noses, and small chins, our brains indicate that this person should be treated kindly. However, we do not find these people to be very capable of caring for themselves, much like an infant, and so we also feel that we need to protect them. Having a baby face makes a person more attractive due to the youthful and therefore more fertile appearance.
One such example is George "Babyface" Nelson, whose small stature, large eyes, small nose, and round face gave him the appearance of being innocent and non-violent. However, his true nature was quite the opposite. He was a vicious criminal who was infamous for robbing banks and was at one point deemed "Public Enemy No. 1" due to his criminal activities. When finally FBI agents were able to confront him, they saw the baby-faced Nelson among a group of other men. The FBI agents allowed Nelson to escape and shot the other men, who were actually undercover FBI agents.
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Three factors are involved in how physically attractive a person appears to be: ratio, facial symmetry, and facial shape. Although what we find attractive is influenced by our culture, these three factors tend to be universally accepted as important influences as well. In women, a 7:10 waist-to-hip ratio is considered to be attractive, resulting in an hourglass or pear-shaped figure. In men, the waist-to-shoulder ratio is based on the Golden Ratio, resulting in wide shoulders and a narrow waist, or an inverted triangle.
A person's face plays an important role in their physical attractiveness as well. When the right side of a person's face is the same as the left, we call this facial symmetry. The more symmetrical a person's face is, the more attractive we find it. However, we also tend to be attracted to people who have a baby face, which means that they have more infant-like features, such as a small nose and chin, large eyes and lips, and an overall round facial structure. The criminal George "Babyface" Nelson used his baby face to his advantage, evading FBI agents due to his youth-like and innocent appearance.
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Video Transcript
Physical Attractiveness
So far in this chapter about attraction, we've focused on some of the reasons that we like certain people more than others. It certainly makes sense that we get to know and typically like the people we see every day, especially if we have something in common. But, how important do you think physical attractiveness is when determining if we like someone either romantically or platonically?
It turns out it matters quite a bit. A plethora of research has shown that physical attractiveness is highly valued by both males and females. This research includes many field studies, which measured actual behavior instead of just what people say. These results probably aren't too surprising, but what do you think the researchers found when it came to identifying the physical traits that made someone attractive to another person?
I'm sure you've heard the saying, 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.' Logic dictates that beauty standards differ between cultures. Although both of these are true to a certain extent, it's remarkable how people across the world seem to agree on the attractiveness of certain features. Three of these features are the topic of this lesson: waist ratios, symmetry, and what social psychologists call 'the baby face phenomenon'.
Ratios
First, let's discuss classic ratios. The hourglass figure on a woman is often considered to be the most attractive figure. Seven seems to be the magic number, as the most attractive female waist-to-hip ratio is 7:10. For example, a waist that measures 25 inches is approximately 7/10 the size of hips that measure 36 inches, so a woman with these measurements would have the ideal figure.
According to evolutionary psychology, this ratio is preferred because men are naturally attracted to women who are able to maximize the number of offspring produced. A woman with a 7:10 waist-to-hip ratio is the figure of health and peak fertility, so she is viewed as more physically attractive by men across all cultures.
Evolutionary theory proposes women also prefer men with physical features that suggest health and stamina. The ratio that is most important here is waist-to-shoulder, as the most attractive male shape includes broad shoulders and a slim waist. This results in a 'V' shape that is associated with higher testosterone, so it is viewed as more physically attractive by women across all cultures.
Symmetry
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Beyond ratios and overall figures that are attractive for romantic reasons, the most important feature that determines attraction (especially platonic) is the face. Even babies of all ethnicities prefer photographs of attractive faces to unattractive ones, and they actually prefer the same photographs that adults prefer. This provides evidence that certain aspects of facial beauty are universal.
Facial symmetry, where each side of the face is the exact mirror image of the other, is definitely one of these aspects. Symmetry seems to be considered much more attractive than asymmetry, even though true absolute symmetry is rare in the real world. Research has also found that people are more attracted to average faces. There have been many studies that merged photographs of several people into one composite image, which averaged every facial feature.
When psychologists asked people to compare a series of photographed faces, the vast majority of participants selected the composite face as the most attractive. The average composite face was more attractive because it had lost most of the asymmetrical features that were present in the individual faces.
Baby Face
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For the final trait of physical attractiveness we'll discuss in this lesson, let's examine the faces of the celebrities above, who are considered very attractive by most people. What features do they have in common? You might notice that each person has large eyes, thick lips, a relatively short nose, and a large curved forehead.
These are considered baby face traits, for infants typically have the same facial features. Many studies indicate that the baby face phenomenon, or the tendency to find infant-like facial features attractive, occurs not only because the features suggest youth, but also because they elicit the same warm feelings as our typical response to babies (both human and animal).
Lesson Summary
In summary, research has found that physical attractiveness is a very important determinant of liking someone. Even though some beauty is 'in the eye of the beholder,' and certain beauty standards differ between cultures, it's remarkable how people across the world seem to agree on the attractiveness of certain features. According to the evolutionary theory, the majority of men find a female waist-to-hip ratio of 7:10, which results in an hourglass figure, as most attractive. Women find a male waist-to-shoulder ratio, which results in a 'V' shape, as most attractive.
When it comes to the face, there is evidence that certain aspects of facial beauty are universal, because even babies prefer the same photographs of attractive faces that adults prefer. Facial symmetry, where each side of the face is the exact mirror image of the other, is definitely one of these aspects. Symmetry seems to be considered much more attractive than asymmetry. Research has also found that people are more attracted to average faces. Finally, there is a tendency to find infant-like facial features attractive, such as large eyes, thick lips, a relatively short nose, and a large curved forehead. This is called the baby face phenomenon.
Learning Outcome
You'll be able to describe three features that people across cultures and genders describe as attractive after viewing this lesson.
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