Plenty of people believe they have a “good side” or “best angle”-Mariah Carey used to insist on being photographed only from the right-but new research shows that one position in particular makes women seem especially attractive: head tilted forward.
A study published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology involved showing participants three-dimensional, computer-generated models of female faces in various positions. The faces tilting forward were rated as both more attractive and more feminine.
The opposite is true for men. The male models were found more attractive and masculine when their heads were titled back.
It may seem arbitrary, but these positional predilections could be related to the typical height differences between men and women. A woman’s head tilted forward mimics the view a taller man sees from above, and vice versa.
“While the research provides important information about our evolution, the findings also offer some clues to help unravel the mysteries of mateship rituals in the 21st century,” said the Australian study coauthor Danielle Sulikowski. “The next step is to determine if people use this effect in real-world mate-attraction scenarios.”
We’d love to hear about your own experiments! Let us know if you get a different response when you purposely tilt your head forward while flirting, or if you get more compliments on photos taken at this angle. Leave a comment below!