Is beauty measurable?

Author: Frank Mugenthal – MD, PhD, plastic surgeon, specialist in oral surgery, jaw surgery and facial surgery (Germany, Freiburg).

Undoubtedly, looking good is very important for every person. It is also clear that character, intelligence and behavior are the main characteristics by which a person is judged. However, a person is often “met by his clothes,” and we often judge a person’s so-called “inner values” by his appearance.

The Privileges of Attractiveness

What is the importance of beauty in our society? Let's try to look at this with a few examples.

In one study, American psychologists conducted the following experiment: young girls deliberately left a folder with documents necessary for employment in an airport telephone booth. Photographs were placed in the folder one by one, depicting faces of varying degrees of attractiveness. Attached to the folder was a note with the following text: “Dear Dad, please don’t forget to send my documents when you get to the airport.” In most cases, people who later found this folder of documents in a telephone booth acted in a similar way. If they found a photograph of a beautiful girl in the folder, they took the trouble to send the documents further, in other cases they did nothing.

The influential English weekly magazine The Economist published an article that the American authorities had changed the very strict criteria for issuing work permits and established their own quota for models, that is, beautiful women. By doing so, they have made it easier for them to enter the American beauty market, regardless of their country of origin. Extraordinarily beautiful women, such as Brazilian top model Gisele Bündchen, received the same privileged and direct access as Nobel laureates, scientists or outstanding athletes.

The television project “Germany's Next Top Model,” hosted by the famous model Heidi Klum, has high ratings on German television and attracts enormous media attention. It is obvious that the TV show satisfies people's need to talk about beauty. Heidi Klum has launched a public discussion in which politicians, church representatives and intellectuals exchange views on how to combat existing “illusions of beauty.”

The above examples show how important good looks are in our society and what emotions it evokes. In recent years, the study of attractiveness has become an entire scientific discipline within psychology. Many different studies and experiments have been carried out in order to determine the essence of beauty and its role in society.

Objective beauty

The statement that beauty is a relative concept and is determined by the eyes of the beholder can be questioned, since there is a universal understanding of beauty. This fact has been proven by a number of studies, during which the faces of a large number of participants were assessed. Attractiveness ratings were always very similar, even when participants were rated by people from different age groups, genders and cultures. Almost half of our perception of attractiveness is objective. The remaining part is determined by personal preferences and external factors.

The question arises, is the perception of beauty “trained” or still instinctive? The second hypothesis is confirmed by an experiment conducted by psychologist Alan Slater. He showed newborns photographs that showed faces of varying degrees of attractiveness. Infants spent twice as long looking at faces that were more attractive. Psychologist Vicki Brus, an international expert in facial recognition, says that “we are born knowing what a face is.”

Average theory

In search of beauty criteria, several tests were carried out in which combinations of distinctive facial features were created by superimposing photographs. It turned out that the more faces were matched, the more perceived attractiveness increased. Based on this, it was concluded that beauty can also be averaged. Other scientists object to this, saying that very beautiful faces cannot be averaged. The average theory is also criticized for the fact that overlaying photographs makes the face in the main photo better and more proportional, which makes it seem even more beautiful.

The search for objective and generally accepted criteria of harmony and beauty inevitably leads to the principle of the “golden ratio”. Back in antiquity, Phidias' number was discovered (Ф=1.6180033...). If you divide a segment according to the Phidias number into two parts of different lengths, then the smaller part of the segment is related to the larger one in the same way as the larger part is to the entire segment (AC:AB = BC:AC). This ratio of different quantities is considered harmonious and is called the “golden ratio”, which is favorably perceived by the human eye.

The proportions of the face, which are considered beautiful, also correspond to the rules of the “golden ratio”. If you divide the distance from the roots of the hair to the chin by the Phidias number, you get the ideal distance between the chin and the pupil. And by dividing the resulting number again, you can determine the location of the tip of the nose and the line of the front teeth. If you measure the width of the face along the cheekbones, it should be equal to 1.62 parts of the height of the face. Sophia Loren, Claudia Schiffer, Heidi Klum - the proportions of their faces correspond to the principle of the “golden ratio”.

"Golden Ratio"

The Golden Ratio, also known as the Divine Proportion and the Golden Mean, is found with astonishing frequency in nature, as well as in works of art and architecture. The concept of the “golden ratio” was introduced by Leonardo da Vinci. According to his theory, the human body is divided into “golden proportions” by several lines passing through the navel, the tips of the middle fingers of the lowered hands, and so on. His famous drawing "The Vitruvian Man", created to determine the proportions of the human body, is often used as an implicit symbol of the harmony of the human body and the Universe as a whole.

In 1855, the “golden ratio” was rediscovered by the German professor Zeising, who did a tremendous amount of work: he measured about 2 thousand human bodies and came to the conclusion that the golden ratio expresses the average statistical law.

Attention to the “golden ratio” is due to the fact that it is ubiquitous in nature. The shapes of animal bodies, the arrangement of leaves on branches, the spiral shells of snails and even the DNA helix itself - everywhere we encounter manifestations of the principle of the “golden ratio”.

The Golden Ratio was especially popular during the Renaissance. When choosing the dimensions of the future painting, we tried to ensure that its sides were in the “golden” ratio. The rectangle corresponding to this rule began to be called “golden”. A striking example of the use of these proportions is the painting of Salvador Dali “The Last Supper”, as well as the face of Mona Lisa, which fits perfectly into the “golden” rectangle.

Factor of evolution

In addition to the theory of averageness and the “golden ratio,” a contender for a universal sign of beauty is the symmetry of figure and facial features. Many studies have shown time and time again that the more symmetrical the body and face, the more beautiful they appear to people. The reason is that the symmetry of body shape directly depends on the synchronous activity of genes that determine human development. If these genes work “successfully”, despite all the adverse effects of the environment, then the entire human genome can be called “good”.

Many of these distinctive features are signs not only of beauty, but also of a healthy body. For example, some of them talk about a high concentration of female hormones and indicate a good ability to procreate.

High levels of estrogen make facial expressions more friendly, while testosterone is the “laughter killer.” The more testosterone a man has, the less mobile his face is. And, as you know, the criteria for male attractiveness differ significantly from the ideals of female beauty.

No sign of time

Studying the heritage of our ancestors, we are convinced that the desire for beauty is as ancient as humanity itself. The higher the level of cultural development, the more attention was paid to the care and decoration of one’s body. This statement becomes more understandable with a detailed study of the culture of Ancient Egypt. Exhibits at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo clearly demonstrate the expensive means with which the ancient Egyptians cared for their bodies and gave them a beautiful appearance. Anyone who has seen this will never again claim that our contemporaries suffer from “illusions of beauty,” but rather the opposite.

The image of Queen Nefertiti (1340 BC) is the epitome of beauty in every way. The shape of the eyes, cheekbones and mouth, as well as the proportions of the face and neck are unusually graceful and have not lost their attractiveness after thousands of years. And this is further evidence that beauty has certain characteristics that do not depend on fashion.

Of course, assessing the attractiveness of a human face or figure can be done using personal perception or formulas. But drawing them in front of plastic surgeons is hardly advisable - after all, in fact, beauty is not at all limited to the visual image. We should not forget that in perception an equally important role is played by the sense of smell (sex pheromones) or hearing (for example, a beautiful timbre of a voice), and the mind. And studies of the essence of beauty and its influence on our behavior have shown that an attractive appearance is not an end in itself, but has been and remains one of the most important factors in human evolution.

Source: KOSMETIK international journal, No. 4(34), 2008, pp. 92-95