Effect of Exposure Duration on Evaluations of Facial Beauty, Likability, and Attractiveness

Abstract

In this study, we examined the effect of the duration of exposure on three facial evaluations: beauty, likability, and attractiveness of the whole face and facial parts (eyes, nose, and mouth). Participants were randomly assigned to four groups of different exposure duration conditions: 20-ms, 100-ms, 1000-ms, or without a time limit, and were asked to rate the beauty, likability, and attractiveness of the whole face and facial parts (eyes, nose, and mouth) on a 7-point scale. The results showed that all three evaluations of the whole face or facial parts were constant over exposure durations, while differences in likability among the stimulus emerged as the exposure duration was prolonged. We also analyzed the temporal changes in the contribution of facial parts to the three evaluations of the whole face with the data obtained in the same experiment. As a result, the eyes made a high contribution to all three evaluations of the whole face, and the mouth contributed to the likability and attractiveness of the whole face. These results suggest that facial beauty, likability, and attractiveness might be processed differently.