Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA.
Hum Nat. 2013 Jun;24(2):126-36. doi: 10.1007/s12110-013-9168-x.
The sclera, the eye's tough outer layer, is, among primates, white only in humans, providing the ground necessary for the display of colors that vary in health and disease. The current study evaluates scleral color as a cue of socially significant information about health, attractiveness, and age by contrasting the perception of eyes with normal whites with copies of those eyes whose whites were reddened, yellowed, or further whitened by digital editing. Individuals with red and yellow sclera were rated to be less healthy, less attractive, and older than individuals with untinted control sclera. Individuals with whitened, "super-white" sclera were rated as younger, although not more healthy or attractive, than controls. In humans, clear, white sclera may join such traits as smooth skin and long, lustrous hair as signs of health, beauty, and reproductive fitness. The evolution of a white sclera may have contributed to the emergence of humans as a social species.
巩膜，眼睛坚韧的外层，在灵长类动物中，只有人类的巩膜是白色的，为健康和疾病中不同颜色的显示提供了必要的基础。本研究通过对比正常白色眼睛和经过数字编辑将白色变红、变黄或进一步变白的眼睛的副本，评估巩膜颜色作为与健康、吸引力和年龄等社会重要信息相关的线索。与正常白色巩膜的对照组相比，巩膜变红和变黄的个体被认为健康状况较差、吸引力较低且年龄较大。而巩膜变白、“超白”的个体被认为比对照组更年轻，尽管不如对照组健康或有吸引力。在人类中，清澈、白色的巩膜可能与光滑的皮肤和长而有光泽的头发等特征一起，成为健康、美丽和生殖能力的标志。白色巩膜的进化可能促成了人类作为一种社交物种的出现。
