Face's Left Side More Attractive Than Its Right Side, Study Shows

Which is your better side? New research shows that the left side of the human face is generally more appealing to others than the right side--which may help explain why portraitists tend to paint their subjects' left profiles.

For the study, published in the journal Experimental Brain Research, Wake Forest University psychology professor Dr. James Schirillo and his co-author, Kelsey Blackburn, asked 37 male and female college students to rate photos of 10 male and 10 female faces. The photos were presented as originally taken and in mirror image form, so that right cheeks appeared to be left cheeks, and vice versa, Dr. Schirillo told The Huffington Post in an email.

What happened? Photos showing the left sides of faces were rated more "pleasant" than those showing right sides--no matter whether the portraits were shown as taken originally or in mirror-reversed form. The researchers corroborated that finding by gauging the pupil size of the study participants' eyes. Research has shown that gazing at pleasant or interesting images causes an increase in pupil size, whereas gazing at unpleasant images causes pupils to constrict.

"Our results suggest that posers' left cheeks tend to exhibit a greater intensity of emotion, which observers find more aesthetically pleasing," the researchers said in a written statement. "Our findings provide support for a number of concepts--the notions of lateralized emotion and right hemispheric dominance with the right side of the brain controlling the left side of the face during emotional expression."

It's a fascinating finding, but does the study yield a practical take-away message for people who want to look their best?

"Practically, people should turn slightly so that they show more of their left, than right, cheek when being photographed," Dr. Schirillo said in the email."Others will find these images more appealing than the reverse (more right cheek exposed)."

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Comments

[czs5056]

09:41 AM on 04/29/2012

i'm told that my head looks better in a brown paper bag

[FreedToChoose]

11:04 PM on 04/26/2012

I'm told my head looks better from the back... ;-)

[JonathanLeeAlexander]

01:07 PM on 04/25/2012

Wait, MY left or YOUR left?

[gerorem]

09:53 PM on 04/30/2012

Stage left, I think.

[commentsareus]

12:14 PM on 08/22/2012

"Ms. Michaels, Nobody is talking to you"

[Rendon76]

02:33 PM on 04/24/2012

#2 sounded like he was trying so thumbs down for that poser!

[fa8id]

01:03 PM on 04/24/2012

Probably because the left side gets less acne and wrinkles! Did they take this in consideration?

[lensamy]

08:37 AM on 04/24/2012

Right side all the way.

[Aleperdido]

06:03 PM on 04/23/2012

Each person backwards printed in the forehead its value in money, unhappyly, character, good nature and virtues had started to also inhabit the external region of the body!

[melchior digiacomo]

04:54 PM on 04/23/2012

MOST REPUBLICANS I KNOW ARE TWO FACED.BOTH RIGHT SIDE.MELCHIOR

[Carson P]

03:31 PM on 04/23/2012

As a professional photographer, I can assure you that the decision about which side of a subject's face to feature is way more complicated than just showing more of the left side. The key factors are usually which eye is dominant (it's usually better to feature the side with the dominant eye), and the location of the hair part (it's usually better to feature the side with the part), but these two factors can be contradictory. Then there is the question of which side of the face to light, which is entirely separate from the issue of which side is more revealed to the camera. You can light the side of the face that is turned away from the camera, known as lighting "short" -- which is what Vermeer did in The Girl with the Pearl Earring -- or you can light "broad," which is the opposite. Furthermore, probably because Westerners read left-to-right, a photograph is usually understood more quickly when the subject is lit from the left, which generally means featuring the subject's right side. Is it wise to draw sweeping conclusions about effective portraiture from a study that showed thirty-seven college students ten photographs?

[evolvedtg]

10:47 PM on 04/23/2012

Well, then, I guess they should just throw that whole study in the can, then.

[Mastiff]

12:31 AM on 04/24/2012

Very interesting, thanks!

The study would have been more valuable if they had reversed the left side, so all of the photos faced in the same direction. It's possible people are reacting to the layout of the photo (right-facing vs left-facing) rather than finding one more attractive than the other.

[Dionicio Ontiveros]

02:57 PM on 04/23/2012

Leonardo DaVinci in his world famous self- portrait favored his right side for his likeness. Or,
perhaps, he actually drew himself to be viewed in reverse as his his left- to -right writing .

[Marlyn]

11:58 AM on 04/23/2012

Everyone has their crazy theories. Here's mine:

People who tilt their head with their left eye high are sympathetic.
People who tilt their head with their right eye high are critical.
People who don't tilt their head are level headed and rational.

[Kailuabred]

04:08 PM on 04/23/2012

Yup...crazy

[evolvedtg]

10:48 PM on 04/23/2012

Someone's got too much time on their OCD hands.

[Jamie Kowalski]

12:22 PM on 04/24/2012

Sounds interesting, but I prefer to tilt my head with my neck. Less strain.

[jf12]

11:11 AM on 04/23/2012

Weird if true.

[hsiashang]

06:43 AM on 04/23/2012

I guess if you are Rob Lowe, Beyonce Knowles or Brad Pitt you don't really have to worry much about this sort of question.

[Sharp tongue]

06:13 AM on 04/23/2012

My right side is better than your left side.

[jennyopines]

06:05 AM on 04/23/2012

Hurray for the left :-)