Women's Faces More Attractive Than Men's, Extensive Study Confirms

A comprehensive international study has confirmed that women's faces are generally perceived as more attractive than men's, a phenomenon researchers have termed the "Gender Attractiveness Gap" (GAP). The findings, published in the scientific journal "Proceedings of the Royal Society B," analyzed data from over 28,500 evaluators across 76 countries, making it the largest dataset of its kind on facial attractiveness.

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Women's faces are rated as more attractive than men's faces on average, regardless of the gender, culture, race, and age group of the evaluator.

The research, led by Eugen Wassiliwizky from the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, revealed that on average, women's faces are rated as more attractive than approximately 60% of men's faces. This difference persists across various demographics, including gender, culture, race, and age groups. Notably, the gap is most pronounced in Western cultures but remains significant even among heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual evaluators.

Interestingly, the study found that women tend to rate other women as significantly more attractive than men do. Men's ratings of female faces were more consistent and generally lower. However, when men and women evaluate their own attractiveness, the GAP disappears; self-assessments show no significant difference between genders. Researchers also observed that men tend to be harsher evaluators overall, though this effect is smaller than the GAP itself.

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Particularly striking is that women rate other women as significantly more attractive than men, while men's faces are rated similarly – and generally lower – by both sexes. This means that this difference occurs not only between women and men, but also within the same group.

Delving into the underlying reasons, scientists analyzed objective facial features using morphometric analyses. They found that typical sex-specific facial characteristics explain a substantial part of the GAP. Specifically, men's faces are typically more angular, while women's faces are rounder. The study suggests that both men and women tend to rate rounder faces as more attractive, contributing to the overall perception that feminine features are more appealing.

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The results indicate that differences in these typical sex-specific facial features explain a significant portion of the GAP phenomenon.