Naslov
Facial symmetry and health: A meta-analysis

Autori
Švegar, Domagoj ; Mehić, Nermina

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Review of Psychology, 23(1-2), Special Section 12th Alps Adria Psychology Conference / - , 2016, 97-97

Skup
12th Alps-Adria Psychology Conference

Mjesto i datum
Rijeka, Hrvatska, 29.09.2016. - 01.10.2016

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
facial symmetry ; health ; meta-analysis

Sažetak
The aim of this study was to summarize empirical research concerning relations between facial symmetry and health. Initial review of the literature revealed that facial symmetry is influential visual marker of attractiveness and health. We also observed that a strong connection between facial symmetry and health is demonstrated only in studies measuring perceived health, while there is only scarce evidence corroborating the link between symmetry and actual health. In order to systematically evaluate these observations, we conducted a meta- analysis with the type of health assessment (on two levels: perceived and actual) as a moderator variable. In order to select the studies for the meta-analysis, several data-bases were searched for articles containing items “health” and “facial symmetry” or “facial asymmetry”. After this initial search, reference lists of retrieved articles were checked in order to find other studies relevant for the meta-analysis. Finally, articles that cited all the studies retrieved in the first two steps were checked. Following the described search procedure, a total of 19 studies were selected for meta-analysis: 9 with actual and 10 with perceived health measures. The overall correlation between health and facial symmetry across all 19 studies was significant and positive (r=.23 ; p<.01). Furthermore, the type of health assessment was a significant moderator to explain the variation of effect sizes between the studies. The relationship between facial symmetry and perceived health was moderately strong (r=.33 ; p<.01), while the correlation between facial symmetry and actual health was very low but significant (r=.07 ; p=.05). In other words, this meta-analysis revealed that individuals with high facial symmetry are actually just slightly healthier but are perceived as much healthier than less symmetrical people, which is in line with the evolutionary hypothesis that weak association between symmetry and genetic quality is sufficient to create a selection pressure to choose symmetrical mates.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Psihologija

Napomena
The research was conducted within the project "Personality, emotions and social processes as determinants of health outcomes", funded by the University of Rijeka.

POVEZANOST RADA