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Cultural differences in preferences for facial coloration /
Cultural differences in preferences for facial coloration (manuscript)
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Description: Effects of facial coloration on attractiveness judgments are hypothesized to be “universal” (i.e., similar across cultures). However, only two studies have directly compared facial color preferences in two cultures. Both of those studies reported that White UK and Black African participants showed similar preferences for facial coloration. By contrast with the cross-cultural similarity reported in those studies, here we show cultural differences in the effects of facial coloration on Chinese and White UK participants' (N=196) facial attractiveness judgments. While both Chinese and White UK participants preferred faces with increased lightness and redness, Chinese participants had stronger preferences for lightness and White UK participants had stronger preferences for redness. More strikingly, while Chinese participants preferred faces with decreased yellowness, White UK participants preferred faces with increased yellowness, and this effect was not qualified by face ethnicity. These results suggest that preferences for facial coloration are not necessarily universal, but can differ across cultures.