Beauty is not only on the face!

As we all know, everyone has the love of beauty
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People with good looks (good looks), or attractive faces, have always attracted widespread public interest
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However, the objective standard for measuring beauty has always been controversial, and it seems impossible for human beings to reach a consensus
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Throughout history, various human cultures have deemed certain physical features attractive enough to ignore others
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The answer to why the human perception system considers some people's physical characteristics more attractive than others is undoubtedly complex, involving age, gender, culture, and individual characteristics
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Sexual selection theory, however, argues that perceptions of attractiveness reflect preferences for traits related to a partner's quality of life, including health and immune function
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While intuitively and theoretically appealing to this hypothesis, solid evidence is lacking
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In a new study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences on February 16, 2022, a research team from Texas Christian University in the United States has shown in the most extensive study to date that individual facial Attraction is related to immune system function
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The new study involved 159 young participants with an average age of 20, 79 of whom were women
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All participants were tested in advance to ensure that they had no history of chronic medical conditions, were not depressed and other psychiatric disorders, were not obese, were not using steroids and anti-inflammatory drugs, were not exercising, and were not drinking alcohol for the 2 days prior to enrolling in the study
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Photographs of participants were rated for attractiveness in an online survey by another 492 participants with an average age of 25, 259 of whom were women
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After photographing the participants, the researchers also gave each participant a series of tests to assess their immune system status, levels of body inflammation and self-reported health
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When analyzing these results, the researchers found that those rated as attractive-looking had relatively healthy immune function, particularly with regard to bacterial immunity
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Interestingly, there was no link between higher levels of inflammation and attractiveness among the participants
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This may suggest that facial attractiveness is a better proxy for a strong immune system than signs of acute illness
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In short, the main role of facial attractiveness may not be to avoid a sick partner, but to avoid a partner that may affect the health of your future offspring
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The study also revealed some interesting gender differences
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For example, men are more likely to be rated attractive if their natural killer (NK) cells are functional
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These cells are essential for clearing viral infections from the body
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For women, when bacteria in the blood plasma grow slowly, they are rated as more attractive
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This bacterium is associated with mineral, glucose and antibody levels in the blood
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Taken together, the findings suggest that facial attractiveness may be related to immune factors that can be passed on genetically, but this does not mean that there are no cultural factors that also affect an individual's aesthetics, it's just that the weight of each indicator is unclear
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The link between attractiveness and health may have been overlooked in modern humans, given that human mate preferences were formed before modern medicine, the researchers say
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This also means that while attractiveness may have implied immune function and health in ancestral groups, its link to health may not be appreciated today because modern medicine can keep those with low immune function relatively good health
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In conclusion, one study is insufficient to determine why human aesthetics exist, and how facial attractiveness might serve some evolutionary purpose, if any
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Therefore, further research is needed to replicate these results and explore what drives the link between physical attractiveness and immune function
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Paper link: https://royalsocietypublishing.
org/doi/10.
1098/rspb.
2021.
2476