Eyelash attractiveness-Psychologists identify an “inverted U-function”.
“A new study published in the journal Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences has implications for your next trip down the cosmetics aisle.”
The following written content by Mark Travers Ph.D.
A new study published in the journal Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences has implications for your next trip down the cosmetics aisle.
The scientists, led by Farid Pazhoohi of the University of British Columbia in Canada, found that, at least according to the raters they recruited, the optimal eyelash length for women is about one-quarter to one-third of the width of one’s eye. The optimal eyelash length for men was about one-fifth of the width of one’s eye.
This is shorter than many attractiveness researchers previously thought. The study also found that excessively long lashes are viewed just as negatively as lashes that seem too short — something the psychologists call the “inverted U-function” of eyelash attractiveness.
“Human eyelashes are one of the facial features that contribute to facial attractiveness,” say the authors of the study. “Contrary to some beliefs that the attractiveness is increasing with the length of eyelashes on female faces, the preference for eyelash length follows an inverted-U function. This function is observed for both female and male faces.”
To come to this conclusion, the psychologists recruited 81 Canadian adults to evaluate 11 computer-generated pictures of a male or female face. The only thing that changed in the photos was the length of the eyelashes. The psychologists showed photos at the following increments of eyelash-to-eye length: 0, .04, .10, .16, .20, .24, .30, .36, .40, .44, and .50. The participants were then asked to organize the photos from most attractive to least attractive.
They found that while most people rated the medium-length eyelashes as most attractive, there was a significant gender difference. For one, participants favored longer lashes in women more than in men. Second, while both very short and very long lashes were rated as least attractive overall, participants showed an especially strong aversion to females with very short lashes and males with very long lashes.
“The skewed ratings in attractiveness peak for male faces towards shorter eyelashes relative to those of female faces, suggesting that the preference for eyelash length may be modulated by gender cultural norms,” say the authors. “That is, while in general eyelashes of an optimum ratio are considered more attractive, this preference is not solely a biologically adaptive phenomenon, and is influenced by cultural norms.” Read more from Psychology Today.
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