By: Krystal Peplinski Minnesota State University Moorhead Effect of Symmetry and Eye Color on Perceived Attractiveness and Mate Quality in Female College Students By: Krystal Peplinski Minnesota State University Moorhead

Questions Does symmetry in faces make people more attractive? What about certain eye colors? What happens if we mix these two and create an experiment where we manipulate both eye color and facial symmetry? Would the person be more attractive? What about with relation to the participants eye color?

Background Bilateral symmetry & fluctuating asymmetry (Farrera, Villanueva, Quinto- Sanchez, and Gonzalez-Jose, 2015) Symmetry is a sign of good health and good genes (Zaidel, Aarde, & Baig, 2005) Positive affect towards light colored eyes (Jones and Moyel, 1971) Indicator of child’s heredity Men pick women guarantee of fatherhood

Introduction Increasing facial symmetry increases attractiveness (Perrett et al., 1999) Environmental stressors (Farrera et al., 2015) Eye color can be related to certain characteristics Blue-eyed men had a stronger attraction for blue eyed women (Laeng et al., 2007)

Hypotheses Perceived attractiveness & mate quality ratings Eye color ratings Follow-up Chi-square hypothesis

Participants Lower level female psychology students Sign-up sheet across from Psychology office 40 participants 20-minute session Randomized and counterbalanced Extra credit and debriefing Ethical principles

Design 2 x 2 Within-Subjects Factorial 2 IVs DV 7-point Likert Scale Chi-square Independence study

Materials Perceived Mate Quality Questions – Thompson & O’Sullivan Likert Scales Chicago Face Database Photoshop Randomize and Counterbalance

procedure Tested individually Informed consent Demographics Rate in context of dating 8 target faces Debriefing and participant extra credit blue card

Procedure (examples) 1 1ST participant – 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 2nd participant – 2,4,6,8,1,3,5,7 5 3 Procedure (examples) Bl A Br A Br S Bl A Br S 7 8 Bl S 6 2 Bl S 4 Bl S Bl A Bl A Br S Br S Br A Bl S Br A Br A

Results 2x2 Within-Subjects factorial design 2 IVs DV Symmetric Asymmetric Blue Bl S Bl A Brown Br S Br A 2x2 Within-Subjects factorial design 2 IVs DV 7-point Likert Scales Descriptive stats 2x2 Within-Subjects ANOVA Chi-Square test for independence Target Blue Brown Other Participant Eye Color

what I hope to find Significance in eye color and facial symmetry A certain color with symmetry will be rated higher than the asymmetric face Eye color related to participants eye color Example: Blue-eyed participants = higher ratings for blue-eyed target faces

Questions?