Sexual dimorphism and attractiveness in Asian and White faces

Mate assessment based on physical characteristics: a review and reflection

Mate choice, and sex differences in romantic behaviours, represented one of the first major applications of evolutionary biology to human behaviour. This paper reviews Darwinian approaches to heterosexual mate assessment based on physical characteristics, placing the literature in its historical context (1871-1979), before turning (predominantly) to psychological research on attractiveness judgements based on physical characteristics. Attractiveness is consistently inferred across multiple modalities, with biological theories explaining why we differentiate certain individuals, on average, from others. Simultaneously, it is a judgement that varies systematically in light of our own traits, environment, and experiences. Over 30 years of research has generated robust effects alongside reasons to be humble in our lack of understanding of the precise physiological mechanisms involved in mate assessment. This review concludes with three questions to focus attention in further research, and proposes that our romantic preferences still provide a critical window into the evolution of human sexuality.

An Anthropometric Study of the Morphologic Facial Index of Tibetan Youth in Tibet

The purpose of this study was to understand sex differences and variations in facial indices among Tibetans and to create and evaluate anthropometric data on facial morphology. The study population consisted of 476 native Tibetans (241 males and 235 females) aged 18 to 24 years. The means and SD facial width was 133.53±7.31 mm for males and 133.95±8.10 mm for females; the difference between the sexes was not statistically significant. The means and SD facial height was 107.68±5.76 mm for males and 111.95±14.28 mm for females; the difference between the sexes was statistically significant (u=-8.394, P=0.000). The morphologic facial index was 80.86±5.82 (means±SD) for males and 83.91±11.90 (means±SD) for females; the difference between the sexes was statistically significant (u=-6.581, P=0.000). The proportion of the Tibetan male facial shape was hypereuryprosopic (45.6%) > euryprosopic (31.1%) > mesoprosopic (18.7%) > leptoprosopic (3.3%) > hyperleptoprosopic (1.2%). The proportion of the Tibetan female facial shape was hypereuryprosopic (25.5%) > mesoprosopic (22.6%) > euryprosopic (21.7%) > leptoprosopic (17.4%) > hyperleptoprosopic (12.8%). Facial width was positively correlated with height (male r=0.306, P=0.000; female r=0.144, P=0.027), weight (r=0.470, P=0.000 for males; r=0.337, P=0.000 for females), and BMI (r=0.378, P=0.000 for males; r=0.291, P=0.000 for females). Facial height was positively correlated with height (r=0.329, P=0.000 for males; r=0.137, P=0.035 for females) and weight (r=0.391, P=0.000 for males; r=0.170, P=0.009 for females). Facial height was positively correlated with BMI in Tibetan males (r=0.293, P=0.000), but no significant correlation was found in Tibetan females. The morphologic facial index of Tibetans was positively correlated with age (r=0.183, P=0.004 for males; r=0.171, P=0.009 for females). The results indicated that Tibetan youth in Tibet have a predominantly hypereuryprosopic facial shape and that facial features are related to age, height, and weight. Some common facial morphology features exist among the Tibet Tibetans, northeastern Indians, and Nepalese in the 3 different regions of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The data from this study provide basic information for the study of Tibetans in the fields of physical anthropology, forensic medicine, maxillofacial surgery, and plastic surgery.