Physical Bases of Facial Profile Preference

The overall objective is to determine the relation of changes in the physical dimensions of the face to measurable subjective judgments of acceptable appearance. Perception of tolerance for deviations from "normal" will be quantitated using psychophysical methods. A user-friendly computer program will be developed to present a series of digitally-modified images of gradations of changes in physical dimensions of the soft-tissue profile (STP) as continuous rather than discrete changes, much like a flower blossoming in continuous slow motion. Specifically, the anterior-posterior (A-P) positions of the upper (UL), lower lips (LL), chin and vertical dimension will change continuously from extreme positions of unacceptability. Without an intermediate operator, the respondent indicates acceptability by pressing a computer-interfaced button until the feature is no longer acceptable. The measurement of perceived deviation from "normal"-appearing faces is critical to understanding the bases of social behavior toward persons who differ from accepted but unspecified standards of physical appearance. Ultimately, a data base of ranges of tolerance for physical deviation of individual features will be provided for use by clinicians now relying on intuition or anthropometric norms. This will be particularly useful for persons with craniofacial deformities as well as for women tyrannized by media-promulgated "standards" of youth, thinness and attractiveness.