Department of Sociobiology, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany.
J Cosmet Dermatol. 2010 Jun;9(2):79-88. doi: 10.1111/j.1473-2165.2010.00489.x.
Evolutionary psychology suggests that a woman's age and physical appearance are important mate choice criteria. Given that changes in female facial skin surface topography are important, prominent visible signs of aging, male perceptual sensitivity for variation in this trait may also affect preference and attractiveness judgment.
Two experiments were conducted to investigate perception (Experiment 1) and noticeability (Experiment 2) of skin surface topography manipulations in facial images of six British women, aged 45-65 years. In Experiment 1 skin surface topography cues were completely removed on the cheeks, the "crow's feet" area adjacent to the eye, under the eyes, above the upper lip, and on the forehead while, in Experiment 2, it was removed gradually (20% increments) on the forehead and around the eyes. In both experiments, stimuli were presented to American and German participants (total N = 300, aged 15-55 years) in omnibus pair-wise combinations (within-face). With each pair, respondents were asked to select that face which they considered as younger looking (Experiments 1 and 2) and more attractive (Experiment 1).
Faces with skin surface topography cues removed were judged significantly younger and more attractive than their original (unmodified) counterparts, with modifications on the forehead and around the eyes showing the highest differences. In these areas, participants were able to detect at least a 20% visual change in skin surface topography.
The results support the assertion that even small changes in skin surface topography affect the perceptions of a woman's facial age and attractiveness and may, thus, also influence men's mate preferences.
进化心理学表明，女性的年龄和外貌是重要的择偶标准。鉴于女性面部皮肤表面形貌的变化很重要，男性对这种特征变化的感知敏感性可能也会影响偏好和吸引力判断。
进行了两项实验来研究对六位英国女性（年龄 45-65 岁）面部图像中皮肤表面形貌变化的感知（实验 1）和可察觉性（实验 2）。在实验 1 中，脸颊、眼睛周围的“鱼尾纹”区域、眼睛下方、上唇上方和额头上的皮肤表面形貌线索被完全去除，而在实验 2 中，额头上和眼睛周围的皮肤表面形貌逐渐去除（每次 20%的增量）。在这两项实验中，美国和德国的参与者（总计 300 人，年龄 15-55 岁）被呈现了来自所有实验的面孔，以整体对的形式呈现（within-face）。对于每一对，被试者被要求选择他们认为看起来更年轻（实验 1 和 2）和更有吸引力（实验 1）的面孔。
与原始（未修改）的面孔相比，去除皮肤表面形貌线索的面孔被判断为更年轻、更有吸引力，额头上和眼睛周围的修饰差异最大。在这些区域，参与者能够检测到至少 20%的皮肤表面形貌的视觉变化。
研究结果支持这样一种观点，即即使是皮肤表面形貌的微小变化也会影响女性面部年龄和吸引力的感知，从而可能也会影响男性的择偶偏好。
