With more than 3.5 billion views, there are concerns that TikTok’s “inverted filter” or “mirror” trend sets unrealistic beauty standards.
With more than 3.5 billion views, there are concerns that TikTok’s “inverted filter” or “mirror” trend sets unrealistic beauty standards through an obsession with symmetry. However, a survey suggests that the population is not so concerned about symmetrical faces.
Everyone has preferences according to what they consider to be physically attractive. Over the years, various studies have mentioned the various reasons why faces with greater symmetry may or may not be considered more attractive compared to faces with less symmetrical qualities.
Lookfantastic believes that beauty is exclusively in the eye of the beholder and that it is too difficult to judge whether a person or an object is symmetrical or not. That is why they have carried out a survey to try to disprove the idea that unrealistic levels of symmetry are always considered the most attractive.
THERE IS MORE TO BEAUTY? THAN SYMMETRY
It is true that symmetry is nice to see in many areas of life. For example, in nature, asymmetrical flowers might be considered especially beautiful.
Symmetrical art and architecture can be just as stunning. Expertly mirrored eye makeup is a skill truly to behold and very enjoyable to watch once successfully done. But when it comes to facial features, there’s something much more complex than simply judging by how symmetrical they are.
Although there is nothing wrong with viewing symmetry as attractive, promoting and presenting an unrealistic standard of beauty as a goal to be achieved is problematic.
In 2010, researchers at the University of California concluded that they found no significant difference between how people rate attractiveness in an edited, symmetrical face versus an original, natural face. In fact, they suggested that the human brain is much more sophisticated at judging beauty in another person.
Although there is nothing wrong with viewing symmetry as attractive, promoting and presenting an unrealistic standard of beauty as a goal to be achieved is problematic.
The above findings point to a more balanced preference between how often people find asymmetric versus symmetric more attractive.
To illustrate this point, the team asked a representative sample of 500 people in Spain to select, from among 30 photos of different people, whether an original, unedited, naturally asymmetrical photograph or an edited, symmetrical one seemed more attractive.
Each respondent was shown two versions of the same photograph, with each photo being a different image of an anonymous or celebrity face. The photos were not tagged, so the respondents were not informed about what the differences were between the two photos they were shown each time.
All the respondents found attractive examples both in edited and symmetrical photos, as well as in photographs of natural and asymmetrical faces, depending on the preferences of the individual and particular of the photo.
If we compare the preferences of all the choices and translate them into a percentage, the results show a small preference in favor of symmetry. 57% preferred it.
The boomer generation (those in the age range of 57 to 75 years) chose natural photos and raw faces as the most attractive
While this gave a more general picture, they wanted to learn more about whether respondents of various ages were more likely to choose the natural, unedited versions of our photos.
Thus, 45% of the men in the study chose unedited photos as more attractive, while women did so 42% of the time.
But does the preference for natural photos change according to age? If we talk about age and beauty preferences, a trend discovered was that the older the respondent, the more attractive they found natural photos and those that were not perfectly symmetrical.
The boomer generation (those who are in the age range between 57 and 75 years) chose natural photographs and unedited faces as the most attractive, thus representing 47%.
By comparison, younger groups (Gen Z and millennials) opted for unedited photos at 43%, with mirror photos being slightly more appealing.
PEOPLE FIND ASYMMETRY MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN THEY THINK
After taking the survey, participants were also asked whether or not they agreed with the statement that “symmetrical facial features are more attractive than asymmetrical ones.”
Although 43% of people surveyed agreed with the statement, raw and naturally asymmetrical photos of faces were preferred 43% of the time.
A large percentage of those surveyed said they were “unsure whether symmetry was relevant when judging beauty,” suggesting that symmetry is not a conscious concern for people when judging the attractiveness of others.
