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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 9, No. 9
Publication Date: September 25, 2022
DOI:10.14738/assrj.99.13088. Copertari, L. F., & Reyna, G. V. (2022). Beauty and the Golden Ratio. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(9). 259-285.
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Beauty and the Golden Ratio
Luis F. Copertari
Computer Engineering Program
Autonomous University of Zacatecas (UAZ), Zacatecas, México
Gloria V. Reyna
Psychology Department
Autonomous University of Zacatecas (UAZ), Zacatecas, México
ABSTRACT
The ideas of beauty and, specifically, female facial beauty, are developed in depth in
this paper, in light of the adjustment of facial beauty to the golden ratio according
to the parameters defined for such purpose. An experimental design of our own is
made, software for carrying out the experiments is developed and the experimental
results are analyzed for both male and female population from the Computer
Engineering Program of the Autonomous University of Zacatecas (UAZ) and the
Psychology Department, also at UAZ. It is concluded that women are more sensitive
than men to the aesthetics dictated by the conformance to the golden ratio. Also, we
conclude that the golden ratio does play an important role in female facial beauty
perception.
Keywords: Beauty, golden ratio, facial, gender, aesthetics, interface.
INTRODUCTION
This research originated from the curiosity derived from a video by Alexs Syntek published in
YouTube entitled “ASOMBROSA-MENTE. Las Reglas de la Atracción” (Syntek, 2020). In this
video, the idea of the golden ratio as a way to measure the attractiveness of the faces of female
models, as well as other issues related to female and male attractiveness are discussed.
These ideas are developed in depth in this research, our own experiments are carried out and
a thorough theoretical revision is made both concerning the golden ratio and issues related to
psychology as well as probability and statistics issues in order to analyze the experimental
results obtained from students from the Computer Engineering Program of the Autonomous
University of Zacatecas (UAZ) and the Psychology Department also at UAZ.
In order to carry out the experiments, a friendly user interface was designed offering the
experimental subject the possibility of ordering the female model according to their beauty by
interacting with the software while the software counts automatically the time the user takes
in doing the test. At the moment of finishing the experiment, the software adds the new
statistics in the database being created in the same folder where the software is located. The
software records the time of the experiment (in seconds), as well as a numerical score
indicating how close to the golden ratio metric the student is.
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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 9, Issue 9, September-2022
Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom
Before carrying out the test, the same instructions are read to the students and the same
indications are given so that the tests are consistent. The work carried out is part of the
activities of the Advanced Research Laboratory in Artificial Intelligence and Human-Machine
Interaction (LIAHM). LIAHM’s logo is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: LIAHM’s logo.
In this research paper, all theoretical background related are presented, as well as the system
of equations used for the analysis, the results obtained and the discussion of such results.
MALE AND FEMALE PERCEPTION OF BEAUTY
Syntek (2020) explains in his video several issues related to male and female perception of
beauty about men and women.
Some initial considerations about beauty perception
Symmetry in the perception of male and female beauty
If you are a man, carefully observe the two faces of the twins in Figure 2a and indicate which
one is the most beautiful. If you are a woman, observe the two faces of the twins in Figure 2b
indicating which one is more attractive to you. Stop reading and take some time to do your
choice. Which face is more beautiful? A or B? People always choose face A. When they are
questioned as to why they chose that particular face, they answer that it is due to the eyebrows,
lips or some other characteristic of the face.
However, both faces in Figure 2a correspond to the same person as well as both faces in Figure
2b. Each pair of faces are not of twins. Why then the difference in the perception of beauty?
These differences are due to the fact that each pair of faces were graphically manipulated in
order to increase symmetry in face A and increase asymmetry in face B.
Human beings have evolved to prefer symmetry in faces, which tends to allow them to choose
healthier people. This is because of millions of years of human evolution. Apparently, the human
brain has evolved to prefer symmetry and reject asymmetry.
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Copertari, L. F., & Reyna, G. V. (2022). Beauty and the Golden Ratio. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 9(9). 259-285.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.99.13088
a. Two female twins
b. Two male twins
Figure 2: Symmetry in the perception of male and female beauty.
Time and fashion in the perception of female beauty
The perception of beauty not only depends on biological issues, but also cultural ones. For
example, if people from different times are asked from a varying set of models which one they
think is more beautiful, they are going to choose the one as close as possible to the clothing
parameters of the time.
Consider Figure 3, where three women in bikini are shown. The question is: which of the three
models is more beautiful? This question is biased, because it depends on the time the person
answering the question belongs to. Different people from different times will have different
answers due to different cultural differences.