What makes a face attractive? This question has been asked for countless years. Many say that symmetry or youthfulness makes for an attractive face. Others say familiarity and averageness are more appealing. Which side is right? Both parties can agree that expressions play a role in a person's attractiveness. What most don't know is that many find average attractive, even if they don't know the person is "average." One of the first scientists to really ask "What's in a face?" was Francis Galton. Galton focused on vegetarians and criminals. His main goal was to understand if there was a similar facial appearance for both. To do this, he made photographic composite images of the two faces. In other words, Galton superimposed many images of faces onto a single plate. This created a final composite face with the characteristics of each original face. The resulting average face proved no evidence of vegetarians' criminal tendencies, but Galton noticed that the composite face was much more attractive than the original faces. “This phenomenon is now known as the averaging effect, where attractive faces tend to be indicative of the average characteristics of the population.” (What's in a Face, 2002) There are two main explanations (which follow the symmetrical theory) that explain the attractiveness of the composite face. The theory of evolutionary advantage suggests that individuals with symmetrical faces tend to be more attractive. It is based on the fact that they appear healthier than those with asymmetrical faces. Human genes are created to develop symmetrically. Asymmetrical faces are made up of flaws and small imperfections created before and after birth. Those who have strong immune systems and therefore can be considered...... middle of paper ......iful with more extreme characteristics. Symmetry, expressions, gaze direction, familiarity, averageness, and youth can all play a huge role in how attractive a person is perceived to be. “This demonstrates the incredible sophistication of the mechanisms and processes involved in face perception.” (Jones, BC, DeBruine, LM, Little, AC, Conway, CA and Feinberg, DR (2006).)ReferencesJones, BC, DeBruine, LM, Little, AC, Conway, CA and Feinberg, DR (2006). Integrating physical gaze direction and expression with physical attractiveness when forming facial preferences. Psychological science. Rhodes, G. and Tremewan T. (March 1996). Meanness, exaggeration and facial attractiveness [Electronic version]. Psychological Science, 7(2), 1-7.Sciencebuddies.org. What's in a face? Np: np, 2006. N.pag.sciencebuddies.org. Web.March 15. 2014.