Perceptions of facial attractiveness across development.

Physical attractiveness permeates all aspects of how we interact with others. Research has investigated what adults find attractive in faces and found certain key preferences, such as symmetry, healthiness, averageness, and (in women) femininity. We also prefer faces which bear a slight resemblance to our parents, perhaps due to childhood learning. However, we know very little about how we come to develop these preferences. Although even newborns agree with adults about what is generally attractive, very little research has considered which of the elements given above may underlie children's preferences.
This research will conduct a systematic study of children aged 6 to 18 years, to give a 'snapshot' of how preferences may differ across age groups. Based on the results of this study, it will be possible to determine for instance, which preferences are present from early childhood and how other preferences develop (eg is puberty important?).
The project will also investigate the phenomenon of attraction to parental features amongst a group of children whose relationships with their carers have already been studied in infancy. This will enable consideration of the relationship between parental features and facial preferences, with long term reliable data, rather than relying on adults' recall.