Is It Love Or Lust? The Face Says It All
Posted April 10, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The eyes may be the window to the soul, but a new study suggests the face is a telltale indicator of whether someone is interested in a one-night stand or a lasting relationship.
The Durham University research study suggested men with a square jaw, large nose and small eyes were more likely to be into a relationship based on lust, while men with softer features were likely more willing to commit.
About 700 heterosexual adults participated in the survey done by Durham, St. Andrews and Aberdeen universities and in one particular study 72 per cent of participants correctly identified the sexual behaviours of men and women in their 20s after being shown their facial images.
Women who were more interested in short-term sexual relationships generally tended to have wide eyes and large lips, not unlike actress Angelina Jolie.
Women participating in the survey tended to see masculine men as more likely to be unfaithful and poor parents, and gravitated toward men they felt would be after long-term relationships.
“Lots of previous studies have shown that people can judge a lot about a person from their face, including things like health and even some personality traits like introversion, but this really is the first study to show that people are also sensitive to subtle facial signals about the type of romantic relationships that others might enjoy,” said Dr. Ben Jones from the University of Aberdeen’s Face Research Lab.
