Does height determine what kind of faces you find attractive? According to an old study that’s been making the rounds on social media, it might.
Research shows that tall and short people appear to have different preferences when it comes to facial beauty. A 2008 study found that tall people generally prefer people with slightly larger foreheads and smaller chins, and shorter people generally prefer people with larger chins and smaller foreheads.
The discovery has sparked interest and discussion on social media, especially after it was recently highlighted in a viral TikTok video by QOVES, an organization dedicated to promoting research in beauty science. Commenters are divided, with some wholeheartedly agreeing and others skeptical.
Psychologists who specialize in attraction and relationships say the study’s findings are certainly sound and likely legitimate, but add that the conversation behind the study points to something deeper. It’s our culture’s obsession with beauty that, taken too far, can be unhealthy.
“I’m a fan of people wanting to know everything about relationships, and I generally think that’s a healthy thing. Sometimes that information gets blown out of proportion,” says Gary Lewandowski, a relationship scientist and author of Stronger Than You Think: The 10 Blind Spots That Undermine Your Relationship… and How to See Past them. “Relying on ‘tricks’ and ‘hacks’ like these don’t give people what they really want: authentic connection.”
Why are tall and short people attracted to different faces?
Why do tall and short people have different opinions about which faces are the most beautiful?
One theory is the “exposure effect,” which states that people are attracted to things that are familiar to them. The more we are exposed to physical features throughout our lives, the more likely we are to find them beautiful and seek them out in potential partners.
“From an evolutionary perspective, when you feel familiar with something, you may feel safe with it,” Lewandowski says of the exposure effect. “Familiarity also adds to the appeal.”
In general, tall people should look down at you at an angle that makes your forehead more prominent than your chin. The opposite is true for short people, who generally have to look up at the person, so their chin is more visible than their forehead.
As a result of constant exposure to the face from various angles, short and tall people prefer different facial proportions.
It’s truly an amazing discovery. But Paul Eastwick, professor of psychology and author of Bonded by Evolution: The New Science of Love and Connection, urges people to remember that attraction involves many factors. This discovery is just one piece of a complex puzzle.
“As a general explanation of scientific principles, this all seems fine to me,” Eastwick says. “But people shouldn’t take dating advice based on this research with a grain of salt. Such effects are washed out by the millions of other factors that come into play when meeting someone.”
What the science of attraction and conspiracy tell us about us
Perhaps even more revealing than the study itself is the intrigue surrounding it.
In recent years, there has been growing interest online in the science of making people beautiful, a field known as facial aesthetics. These corners of the internet are full of talk about the slant of the eyes, the ridge of the eyebrows, the slope of the nose, the shape of the eyes, and the “golden ratio” of facial features that are nearly impossible to change outside of surgery.
Some people online even brag about taking extreme measures to change their appearance according to these principles. For example, in the “looksmaxxing” community, several young men encourage each other to do whatever it takes to maximize their appearance, believing that doing so is the best way to find a partner.
“We live in an increasingly visual world that places great value on ‘aesthetics,’ so any insight based on appearance will resonate,” Lewandowski says. Also, in the age of dating apps, “with so much access to potential mates, people are feeling a little more competition for partners, so there may be a perceived need to gain additional advantages to oust others.”
Self-improvement is not a bad thing. Neither wants to learn the science of why people like the things they like. But Eastwick says both should be considered.
“I generally advocate relationship solutions for people who are frustrated with dating,” Eastwick says. “Believe it or not, psychological experiments show that the best way to increase someone’s attractiveness is to engage them in deep, vulnerable conversations. The effects of this ‘fast friends’ procedure will be far greater than anything someone can do to make themselves ‘scientifically more attractive.'”
