A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Population-Specific Face Shape Preferences (Homo sapiens) Dariusz P. Danel*, Pawel Fedurek†, Vinet Coetzee‡, Ian D. Stephen§, Natalia Nowak*, Michael Stirrat¶, David I. Perrett¶ & Tamsin K. Saxton** * Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Anthropology, Wroclaw, Poland † Department of Psychology, University of York, York, UK ‡ Department of Genetics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa § School of Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Semenyih, Malaysia ¶ School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK ** Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK Correspondence Dariusz P. Danel, Institute of Anthropology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Ul. Kuz ´ nicza 35, 50-951 Wroclaw, Poland. E-mail: danel@antro.pan.wroc.pl Received: February 15, 2012 Initial acceptance: April 6, 2012 Final acceptance: September 13, 2012 (J. Wright) doi: 10.1111/eth.12022 Abstract A substantial number of studies indicate that human facial features such as symmetry and averageness are preferred in human mate choice. Little is known, however, about face preferences in intrapopulation or between-cultural settings as only a few studies have addressed this topic. One hypothesis is that people prefer faces that resemble faces from their own population as a result of visual adaptation. Here, we present results of an internet-based experiment in which male and female participants from two European nations, Poland and Scotland, were asked to choose between ‘Polish-modified’ and ‘Scottish-modified’ faces (i.e. face portraits modified along one of ten different dimensions to resemble faces of the respective populations) of both sexes while being unaware of the origins of the portraits. The results show that the preferences of Polish judges for Polish-shaped faces were significantly stronger than the preferences of Scottish judges for the Scottish-shaped faces. Moreover, both Polish and Scottish judges preferred Polish-shaped faces to Scottish-shaped faces. These results suggest that natural visual experience acquired in everyday interpersonal interactions may have limited influence on aesthetic prefer- ences in these particular intrapopulation settings. Introduction In humans, the face is one of the most important traits affecting mate preferences and mate choice (e.g. Grammer et al. 2003; Peters et al. 2007; Currie & Little 2009) and corresponds to an individual’s overall attractiveness (Saxton et al. 2009a). Faces primarily focus one’s attention while observing both men and women (Hewig et al. 2008), and facial attractiveness can be assessed almost immediately (even after 13 ms), on the basis of limited information (Olson & Marshuetz 2005; see also Willis & Todorov 2006). It is also well documented that there is general cross- cultural agreement on beauty standards and physical attractiveness (e.g. Perrett et al. 1994; Cunningham et al. 1995; Langlois et al. 2000). However, there is still considerable debate concerning the mechanisms guiding the assessment of facial beauty and the rela- tive role of cross-cultural differences in this respect (reviews: Penton-Voak & Perrett 2000; Kos ´cin ´ ski 2008; Little et al. 2011). Two of the possible mechanisms underlying vari- ability in facial preferences are the mere ‘exposure effect’ and ‘visual adaptation phenomenon’ (see Little et al. 2011). According to the first paradigm, repeated exposure to stimuli increases preferences for them, and subliminal stimuli may induce stronger exposure effects than more conscious stimuli perception (Zajonc 1968, 2001; Bronstein 1989). Similarly, initial visual experience with a given type of priming stimuli Ethology 118 (2012) 1173–1181 1173 Ethology