Browsing by Author "Kleisner, Karel"

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Attractiveness Differentially Affects Direct Versus Indirect Face Evaluations in Two Cultures
(Sage Publications Inc, 2023) Cassidy, Brittany S.; Saribay, S. Adil; Yuksel, Huseyin; Kleisner, Karel
Although decades of research have identified facial features relating to people's evaluations of faces, specific features have largely been examined in isolation from each other. Recent work shows that considering the relative importance of these features in face evaluations is important to test theoretical assumptions of impression formation. Here, we examined how two facial features of evolutionary interest, facial attractiveness and facial-width-to-height ratio (FWHR), relate to evaluations of faces across two cultures. Because face evaluations are typically directly measured via self-reports, we also examined whether these features exert differential effects on both direct and indirect face evaluations. Evaluations of standardized photos naturally varying in facial attractiveness and FWHR were collected using the Affect Misattribution Procedure in the United States and Turkey. When their relative contributions were considered in the same model, facial attractiveness, but not FWHR, related to face evaluations across cultures. This positive attractiveness effect was stronger for direct versus indirect evaluations across cultures. These findings highlight the importance of considering the relative contributions of facial features to evaluations across cultures and suggest a culturally invariant role of attractiveness when intentionally evaluating faces.
Citation - WoS: 9
Citation - Scopus: 9
Differential Effects of Resource Scarcity and Pathogen Prevalence on Heterosexual Women's Facial Masculinity Preferences
(Cambridge Univ Press, 2021) Saribay, S. Adil; Turecek, Petr; Paluch, Ruzgar; Kleisner, Karel
The present research focused on how environmental harshness may affect heterosexual women's preferences of potential male mates' facial characteristics, namely masculinity-femininity. The evidence on this issue is mixed and mostly from Western samples. We aimed to provide causal evidence using a sample of Turkish women and Turkish male faces. A video-based manipulation was developed to heighten environmental harshness perceptions. In the main experiment, participants were primed with resource scarcity, pathogen prevalence or neither (control). They then saw masculinised vs. feminised versions of the same faces and indicated the face that they would prefer for a long-term relationship and separately rated the faces on various dimensions. In general, masculinised faces were perceived as slightly more attractive, slightly healthier and much more formidable. A multilevel Bayesian model showed that pathogen prevalence lowered the preference for masculinised faces while resource scarcity weakly elevated it. The overall drop in attractiveness ratings in cases of high perceived pathogen prevalence, one of the strongest effects we observed, suggests that during epidemics, the formation of new relationships is not a favourable strategy. Implications for evolutionary theories of mate preference are discussed.
Citation - WoS: 17
Citation - Scopus: 18
Distinctiveness and Femininity, Rather Than Symmetry and Masculinity, Affect Facial Attractiveness Across the World
(Elsevier Science inc, 2024) Kleisner, Karel; Turecek, Petr; Saribay, S. Adil; Pavlovic, Ondrej; David Leongomez, Juan; Roberts, S. Craig; Varella, Marco A. C.
Studies investigating facial attractiveness in humans have frequently been limited to studying the effect of individual morphological factors in isolation from other facial shape components in the same population. In this study, we go beyond this approach by focusing on multiple components and populations while combining geometric morphometrics of 72 standardized frontal facial landmarks and a Bayesian statistical framework. We investigate preferences in both sexes for three structural components of other sex facial beauty that are traditionally considered indicators of biological quality: symmetry, sexual dimorphism, and distinctiveness (i.e., the opposite of averageness). Based on a large sample of faces (n = 1550) from 10 populations across the world (Brazil, Cameroon, Czechia, Colombia, India, Namibia, Romania, Turkey, UK, and Vietnam), we found that distinctiveness negatively affects the perception of attractiveness in both sexes and that this association is stable across all studied populations. We corroborated some previous results indicating both a positive effect of femininity on male assessment of female facial beauty and a null or weak effect of masculinity on female evaluation of male facial attractiveness. Facial symmetry had no effect on facial attractiveness. In concert with other recent studies, our results support the importance of facial prototypicality but cast doubt on the role of symmetry as one of the key constituents of attractiveness in the human face.
Citation - WoS: 1
Citation - Scopus: 1
Facial Basis of Stereotypes: Judgements of Warmth and Competence Based on Cross-Group Typicality/Distinctiveness of Faces
(Wiley, 2024) Saribay, S. Adil; Pokorny, Simon; Turecek, Petr; Kleisner, Karel
Human migration is an increasingly common phenomenon and migrants are at risk of disadvantageous treatment. We reasoned that migrants may receive differential treatment by locals based on the closeness of their facial features to the host average. Residents of T & uuml;rkiye, the country with the largest number of refugees currently, served as participants. Because many of these refugees are of Arabic origin, we created target facial stimuli varying along the axis connecting Turkish and Arabic morphological prototypes (excluding skin colour) computed using geometric morphometrics and available databases. Participants made judgements of two universal dimensions of social perception-warmth and competence-on these faces. We predicted that participants judging faces manipulated towards the Turkish average would provide higher warmth and competence ratings compared to judging the same faces manipulated towards the Arabic average. Bayesian statistical tools were employed to estimate parameter values in multilevel models with intercorrelated varying effects. The findings did not support the prediction and revealed raters (as well as target faces) to be an important source of variation in social judgements. In the absence of simple cues (e.g. skin colour, group labels), the effect of facial morphology on social judgements may be much more complex than previously assumed.
Citation - WoS: 42
Citation - Scopus: 70
How and Why Patterns of Sexual Dimorphism in Human Faces Vary Across the World
(2021) Kleisner, Karel; Turecek, Petr; Robert, S. Craig; Havlieck, Jan; Valentova, Jaroslava Varella; Akoko, Robert Mbe; Leongomez, Juan David; Apostol, Silviu; Varella, Marco A. C.; Sarıbay, Adil
Sexual selection, including mate choice and intrasexual competition, is responsible for the evolution of some of the most elaborated and sexually dimorphic traits in animals. Although there is sexual dimorphism in the shape of human faces, it is not clear whether this is similarly due to mate choice, or whether mate choice affects only part of the facial shape difference between men and women. Here we explore these questions by investigating patterns of both facial shape and facial preference across a diverse set of human populations. We find evidence that human populations vary substantially and unexpectedly in both the magnitude and direction of facial sexually dimorphic traits. In particular, European and South American populations display larger levels of facial sexual dimorphism than African populations. Neither cross-cultural differences in facial shape variation, sex differences in body height, nor differing preferences for facial femininity and masculinity across countries, explain the observed patterns of facial dimorphism. Altogether, the association between sexual shape dimorphism and attractiveness is moderate for women and weak (or absent) for men. Analysis that distinguishes between allometric and non-allometric components reveals that non-allometric facial dimorphism is preferred in women's faces but not in faces of men. This might be due to different regimes of ongoing sexual selection acting on men, such as stronger intersexual selection for body height and more intense intrasexual physical competition, compared with women.
Light Is Not Always Right: Peri-Iridial Lightness Reduces Attractiveness via Perceived Sex-Typicality Across Human Populations
(Springer, 2026) Fiala, Vojtech; Perea-Garcia, Juan Olvido; Turecek, Petr; Wacewicz, Slawomir; Leongomez, Juan David; Pokorny, Simon; Kleisner, Karel
Evolutionary psychology views the human eye as special. In particular, it claims that the light peri-iridial tissues surrounding a relatively darker iris form a combination that sets us apart from other primates. From this perspective, much less attention has been paid to how eye colouration varies between humans, although evidence indicates that variations in peri-iridial and iridial colouration influence both perceived facial attractiveness and sex-typicality. To determine what aspects of eye colouration influence the perception of faces, we have measured the colour of peri-iridial eye tissues ('the white of the eye') and the iris in nine samples from seven distant cultures (N = 1033) across three continents. The faces were rated on facial attractiveness and sex-typicality by raters from the corresponding populations. Accounting for the effects of skin lightness, age, and facial shape, we ran a Bayesian multilevel model to estimate global and sample-specific effects of colouration of the iris and peri-iridial tissues on perceived sex-typicality and facial attractiveness. This exploratory, cross-sectional study revealed an overall preference for slightly darker peri-iridial tissues in women, whereby this association was mediated by perceived sex-typicality. Our findings challenge the notion that the light-eyed phenotype is universally preferred by human raters. Instead, they suggest a preference for a moderate phenotype, perhaps because very light peri-iridial tissues are typical of faces which are generally perceived as less feminine. Women with bluer irises were generally perceived as more attractive but findings related to other colour channels and iris features were inconsistent and varied across samples.Significance statementThe morphological variation of human eyes is an understudied phenomenon. While attention has been paid to the alleged uniqueness of human eyes (compared to other primates), little is known about how variations in eye colouration influence human perception of faces. Our study included over 1000 individuals from seven culturally distinct regions, mapped human eye variation, and tested how eye colouration influences perceived attractiveness and sex-typicality. In humans, variation in eye colouration is relatively large and differs across populations. Our findings suggest that it affects the perception of faces. Paradoxically, darker peri-iridial regions (scleras) slightly enhance the perception of femininity and female attractiveness, which challenges the idea that lighter eyes are universally preferred. Moreover, blue/light irises were in some contexts linked to a higher attractiveness. These results further refine our understanding of the role of eye colouration in perceived attractiveness.