We’re looking at it all wrong.
A new study published in PLOS ONE found that men and women misjudge what the opposite sex finds attractive.
A research team in the United Kingdom asked 144 people — with an average age of 22 — to adjust a 3D model of a man’s or woman’s face to match their appearance to find out what they believed the other gender finds the most attractive for both short- and long-term relationships.
“We have demonstrated a substantial misperception of what men and women predict the opposite sex to desire in terms of sexual dimorphism of face shape,” the study authors concluded.
Sharp, bold features like chiseled jawlines are often described as more masculine, while soft, delicate features like full lips are characterized as more feminine — and everyone’s rushing to plastic surgeons to achieve that look.
But is that actually what their prospective partners want to see?
The study showed that both men and women overestimated how masculine or feminine the other gender envisioned the most attractive face.
In other words, men thought women preferred more masculine faces than they actually did, and women believed men preferred more feminine faces than they did in reality.
Fellas also thought that women wanted a man with more masculine facial features specifically for short-term relationships than for long-term ones — but women did not make that distinction.
That misjudgment could come from society’s unrealistic beauty standards for both men and women, which have only been exacerbated by surgery and AI.
However, the study also found that incorrect assumptions about attractiveness were worsened by people’s issues with their self-image.
The study found that those less satisfied with their facial features tended to be farther off from predicting the opposite sex’s preferences.
In general, people misunderstand the desires of the opposite sex — especially when they have their insecurities about their appearance.
This showed that men and women tend to focus on idealized versions of beauty that may not reflect what others want to see when looking in the mirror with their partner.
It also added to previous research which has proven that people take more than just physical beauty into account when considering someone’s appeal — hello, dad-bod lovers.
Posture, confidence, kindness and many other aspects of one’s personality and demeanor all play a significant role in how people perceive each other’s attractiveness.
So maybe it’s time to rethink “looksmaxxing” and ‘MAGA makeup’?
