Ip Flora Wl, Lewis Gary J, Lefevre Carmen E
University of York, York, UK.
Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK.
Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2019 Nov;72(11):2565-2573. doi: 10.1177/1747021819850970. Epub 2019 Jun 6.
Previous research has indicated that faces with higher levels of skin carotenoid colouration are perceived as healthier and more attractive. However, it is not known whether this preference is specific to faces or reflects a more generalised preference in biological stimuli: for example, non-face body parts. Moreover, it is not yet well established whether the preference for carotenoid colouration extends beyond Caucasian populations. Three studies were conducted to address these issues. In Studies 1 and 2, Caucasian and Hong Kong Chinese participants, respectively, selected the more attractive image in pairs of high and low carotenoid colouration versions of images of Caucasian faces and body parts, and also for non-face/body-part control stimuli (scrambled faces). In Study 3, a similar study protocol was used with an independent sample of Hong Kong Chinese participants using stimuli generated from Chinese individuals. The results showed that high carotenoid colouration was preferred across all the three studies in faces and body parts, but not in the control stimuli. In addition, there was a stronger preference for high carotenoid colouration in faces compared with body parts in Studies 1 and 2-although this preference was not observed in Study 3. Overall, these findings demonstrate that higher levels of skin carotenoid colouration are preferred both in face and body parts, but not in non-face stimuli, and that these preferences are evident in Caucasian and Hong Kong Chinese individuals.
先前的研究表明，皮肤类胡萝卜素着色水平较高的面孔会被认为更健康、更具吸引力。然而，尚不清楚这种偏好是否仅针对面孔，还是反映了对生物刺激（例如非面部身体部位）更普遍的偏好。此外，对类胡萝卜素着色的偏好是否超出白种人群体，这一点也尚未明确。为此进行了三项研究。在研究1和研究2中，白种人和中国香港参与者分别从白种人面孔和身体部位的高类胡萝卜素着色版本与低类胡萝卜素着色版本的图片对中，以及非面部/身体部位对照刺激（打乱的面孔）中选择更具吸引力的图片。在研究3中，对中国香港参与者的一个独立样本使用了类似的研究方案，使用的刺激图片来自中国人。结果表明，在所有三项研究中，面孔和身体部位的高类胡萝卜素着色版本都更受青睐，但对照刺激则不然。此外，在研究1和研究2中，与身体部位相比，面孔对高类胡萝卜素着色的偏好更强——尽管在研究3中未观察到这种偏好。总体而言，这些发现表明，较高水平的皮肤类胡萝卜素着色在面孔和身体部位都更受青睐，但在非面部刺激中则不然，而且这些偏好在白种人和中国香港人群体中都很明显。
