Small scars on the face do not significantly reduce a person's attractiveness, according to a new study. A new study in the latest issue of the journal Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery shows that small facial scars have little or no effect on attractiveness assessments.
Having scars is actually associated with a slightly better perception of "intimacy," according to the study.
According to the study's lead author, University of Pennsylvania professor Jesse A. Taylor, “contrary to our expectations, we found that a single well-healed scar often does not negatively affect people's initial perceptions of perceived trust or attractiveness, and can even increase perceived intimacy.”
50 faces with facial scars were ranked by 1800 observers.
To uncover potentially tunable features that alter how facial scars are viewed, the researchers created an online survey to assess the "fundamental principles" of facial scars.
50 different faces were rated for trust, friendliness and attractiveness by nearly 1.800 online users. Approximately 89.000 reviews were included in all data.
Evaluators were selected using the Mechanical Turk on Amazon.com. They were racially typical Americans, averaging 39 years old and approximately 55% male.
50 images containing undisturbed faces were selected from the Chicago Face Database.
Male and female individuals from backgrounds are equally distributed across the images, roughly reflecting the racial and ethnic diversity of the US population.
According to normative ratings that are part of the Chicago Face Database, faces were selected to strike a balance between the proportions of attractive, average, and unattractive faces.
Using digital editing software, the researchers added 14 different scars to the face photos in different locations and orientations.
According to Professor Taylor and her colleagues, scarring had no apparent effect on attractiveness and even increased perceived intimacy. “The presence of facial scar did not have a significant effect on attractiveness,” they wrote.
On a scale of 0 to 5, the average rating for attractiveness was 4.25 for scarred faces and 4.26 for non-scarred faces.
While trust scores did not differ much, sincerity scores did; The average score of “sincerity” for scarred faces is 4,27 and an average of 4,23 for non-scarred faces.
The findings showed some minor interactions, such as lower attractiveness, trust, and intimacy scores for faces with scars at the midpoint of the lower eyelid.
But only if the scars are located parallel to the tension lines on the face.
On the other hand, lower eyelid scars were considered more beautiful when they were parallel rather than perpendicular to the resting tension lines in the same area.
The effects on ratings were minimal, representing at most "about two percent of the overall rating value," according to the researchers.
good news for those who are worried about facial scars
The primary goal of plastic surgeons is to reduce the severity of scars, especially on the face.
According to Professor Taylor and colleagues, the scar care market is expected to reach $2023 billion by 34.
According to data compiled by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, wound revision will be performed on nearly 2020 patients in 264.000, making it the third most common reconstructive surgery operation.
unexpected and possibly welcome news
The authors state that “our faces are very important to our identities and carry a large part of the responsibility for expressing ourselves”. “However, nothing is known about the social repercussions of well-healed facial wounds.”
According to Professor Taylor and colleagues, the results are "surprising and perhaps welcome news" for patients who are concerned that facial scars or cuts may adversely affect their appearance or how others perceive them.
The researchers note that the long-accepted basic theories of scar severity, based on the location, direction, and extension of facial scars along lines of tension on the face, were not affected by these findings.
However, the study's authors wrote that well-healed scars "probably would not benefit from wound revision."
source: psychnewsdaily
Günceleme: 25/12/2022 12:37
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