Carotenoid and melanin pigment coloration affect perceived human health

Stephen, Ian D.; Coetzee, Vinet; Perrett, David I.

doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.09.003

Cited by 166 publications

(265 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…¼ 0.57). The face colour difference used here has been reported to yield reliable preferences [8] and was thus suitable for this comparison. A repeated measures ANOVA with colour as repeated measure (low-/high-carotenoid colour) and location (in-laboratory/online) as between subjects factor showed no interaction between colour and location (F 1,28 ¼ 0.18, p ¼ 0.66), indicating similar validity of online data compared with in-laboratory data.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, increased skin yellowness is associated with healthier [4] and more attractive [5] appearance. This effect is thought to arise as a function of carotenoids [6,7] which, when ingested through fruit and vegetables, produce a marked increase in skin yellowness as well as minor changes in skin luminance and redness [8]. Because carotenoids are antioxidants, changes in carotenoid skin coloration may provide a cue to current health.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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It is all in the face: carotenoid skin coloration loses attractiveness outside the face

et al. 2013

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Recently, the importance of skin colour for facial attractiveness has been recognized. In particular, dietary carotenoid-induced skin colour has been proposed as a signal of health and therefore attractiveness. While perceptual results are highly consistent, it is currently not clear whether carotenoid skin colour is preferred because it poses a cue to current health condition in humans or whether it is simply seen as a more aesthetically pleasing colour, independently of skin-specific signalling properties. Here, we tested this question by comparing attractiveness ratings of faces to corresponding ratings of meaningless scrambled face images matching the colours and contrasts found in the face. We produced sets of face and non-face stimuli with either healthy (high-carotenoid coloration) or unhealthy (low-carotenoid coloration) colour and asked participants for attractiveness ratings. Results showed that, while for faces increased carotenoid coloration significantly improved attractiveness, there was no equivalent effect on perception of scrambled images. These findings are consistent with a specific signalling system of current condition through skin coloration in humans and indicate that preferences are not caused by sensory biases in observers.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

It is all in the face: carotenoid skin coloration loses attractiveness outside the face

et al. 2013

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“…Several studies have suggested a causal relationship between diets rich in fruits and vegetables [44][45][46][47][48] and skin colour (specifically yellowness), yet there is limited evidence suggesting that this aspect of human skin coloration is related to health beyond diet. There were also no studies identified which tested relationships between measures of health and skin texture or colour distribution as measured from facial images.…”

Section: (D) Skin Condition (Texture and Colour)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception of health from facial cues

Henderson

Holzleitner

Talamas

et al. 2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Impressions of health are integral to social interactions, yet poorly understood. A review of the literature reveals multiple facial characteristics that potentially act as cues to health judgements. The cues vary in their stability across time: structural shape cues including symmetry and sexual dimorphism alter slowly across the lifespan and have been found to have weak links to actual health, but show inconsistent effects on perceived health. Facial adiposity changes over a medium time course and is associated with both perceived and actual health. Skin colour alters over a short time and has strong effects on perceived health, yet links to health outcomes have barely been evaluated. Reviewing suggested an additional influence of demeanour as a perceptual cue to health. We, therefore, investigated the association of health judgements with multiple facial cues measured objectively from two-dimensional and three-dimensional facial images. We found evidence for independent contributions of face shape and skin colour cues to perceived health. Our empirical findings: (i) reinforce the role of skin yellowness; (ii) demonstrate the utility of global face shape measures of adiposity; and (iii) emphasize the role of affect in facial images with nominally neutral expression in impressions of health.

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“…Cosmetics increase facial contrast (Russell, 2009), exaggerating sex-typical differences in faces. Cosmetics also homogenize skin texture (Samson et al, 2010) and may alter colour properties linked to healthy skin (Stephen, Coetzee, & Perrett, 2011), such as yellowness and lightness (Stephen, Law-Smith, Stirrat, & Perrett, 2009). Some cosmetic products seem specifically tailored to modifying these perceptions.…”

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confidence: 99%

Miscalibrations in judgements of attractiveness with cosmetics

Jones

Kramer

Ward

2014

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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Women use cosmetics to enhance their attractiveness. How successful they are in doing so remains unknown-how do men and women respond to cosmetics use in terms of attractiveness? There are a variety of miscalibrations where attractiveness is concerned-often, what one sex thinks the opposite sex finds attractive is incorrect. Here, we investigated observer perceptions about attractiveness and cosmetics, as well as their understanding of what others would find attractive. We used computer graphic techniques to allow observers to vary the amount of cosmetics applied to a series of female faces. We asked observers to optimize attractiveness for themselves, for what they thought women in general would prefer, and what they thought men in general would prefer. We found that men and women agree on the amount of cosmetics they find attractive, but overestimate the preferences of women and, when considering the preferences of men, overestimate even more. We also find that models' self-applied cosmetics are far in excess of individual preferences. These findings suggest that attractiveness perceptions with cosmetics are a form of pluralistic ignorance, whereby women tailor their cosmetics use to an inaccurate perception of others' preferences. These findings also highlight further miscalibrations of attractiveness ideals.

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Carotenoid and melanin pigment coloration affect perceived human health

Cited by 166 publications

References 38 publications

It is all in the face: carotenoid skin coloration loses attractiveness outside the face

It is all in the face: carotenoid skin coloration loses attractiveness outside the face

Perception of health from facial cues

Miscalibrations in judgements of attractiveness with cosmetics

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