Jenny,+Madeline,+Jordan,+Bronte

=Keynote: = =** Specific Question Which features to certain ethnicities find most attractive? **= = **Big Picture Question: What features make someone attractive?** =

We pass out a survey to 50 Freshman and 50 Sophomores. The survey would have several pictures of men and women of different ethnicities. Next to the each picture would be a list of features and the person taking the survey would check which two features they found most attractive. They would also fill out their ethnicity, gender and age on the survey so we could see if there were and correlations among what ethnicities found attractive.
 * Research:**

This topic was of interest because appearance plays a major role in our society. The purpose of our survey was to determine whether there is a correlation between which features different ethnicities find attractive. The question in mind was, “Will ethnicities be more attracted to similar features of their culture or features that are rare among their culture?”
 * Why We Chose This Topic:**


 * Tentative Hypothesis:**

Our hypothesis We believe people will find rare features (in their culture) most attractive.

Why We Believe This: In articles we have read, a study was conducted in an experiment where they found that people had a tendency to find other traits that they did not have as attractive. Also, looking at statistics and such, plastic surgery, especially in korea, was very popular. This indicated that people were not content and satisfied with their current facial features, and thus sought a solution by achieving traits they believed were attractive through surgical modification and change. One of the top 5 procedures is Eyelid surgery. America carried out 152,123 surgeries in 2010. The Aesthetic Society, which collected multi-specialty procedural statistics since 1997, says the overall number of [|cosmetic procedures] has increased 155 percent since the tracking of the statistics first began.

We will be conducting the experiment in KIS and a school in Texas.
 * Plan of Action:**

Attractiveness could be somewhat subjective. Getting a lot of data will create a correlation amongst the ethnicities, though.
 * Possible Flaws**
 * Honesty was an issue because we could not tell whether the participants were giving accurate answers to the surveys. Also, the environment in which they were tested in was amongst themselves, meaning, their peers could have biased their answers.
 * the fact that we listed the features could also bring out bias instead of having them write out the answers.
 * Our sample was very limited and is not a good representation of the whole ethnicity population because we only sampled students at one school each. We did not survey older or younger people who do not pertain to high school.
 * We were unable to randomly select students due to failure of experiment when people rejected the survey when randomly selected.
 * Unable to record a lot of African Americans because only two people participated in the survey, thus we cannot rely on our results since it does not represent the African American population well.
 * Also, our survey itself may not have been an accurate way to analayze what features people found attractive. The survey had many mistakes because we had to print it out black and white, so people could not see eye color, hair color, and such.

>> >> > [|Research Paper] > > >> **[|What do people find most attractive in others?]** >> [|The Rules of Attraction in the Game of Love] >> [|Study: Faces Like Our Parents Seem Most Attractive] >> [|Beauty in Culture] >> [|The Rise and Fall of Fat in India] >> **Articles (Jenny Y)** >> __Article #1: Men with “Cavemen” Faces Most Attractive to Women__ >> Link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294134,00.html >> In this study, the scientists studied the evolutionary past of human beings while making connections to chimpanzees to find similar facial patterns. Evolutionary science was the basis of this research. The scientists analyzed the results and found that the certain facial features they found on both chimpanzees and humans today were due to sexual selection. The scientists analyzed 68 males and 53 female skulls by calculating certain facial coordinates from a contemporary native southern African population ranging in age from infancy to 30 years old. Men seem to have shorter upper faces to produce a shorter, broader male face (becoming more masculine and less feminine) while their canine teeth shrank. This had men appear less threatening to competitors (since men no longer need to have life survival skills revolving around hunting and killing). This study helped me to understand the background information needed to carry out my own research and experiment. First, it provides basis knowledge on how evolution and science is involved with how facial features evolved into the attractive features we see today. So, this study can help formulate my hypothesis and guide me towards a general direction for the project because I have a good idea of what the population of people will be favoring towards regarding specific facial features. My experiment will be able to either strengthen the results the scientists received in their research or it will show that their results were false or unreliable because my experiment might prove that the attractive facial features might be different from the ones the scientists analyzed and assumed. I just hope this study doesn’t give me too much bias on expected results for my research project. >> >> __Article #2: What makes someone Attractive?__ >> Link: http://thevelvetrocket.com/2008/03/19/the-pretty-project-what-makes-someone-attractive/ >> In this research, they incorporated two different studies that were conducted in search of finding the features of and reasonings behind attractiveness. The first research was done at Stockholm University where they proposed that attractiveness was due to hormones we were exposed to in utero or during puberty, our heavy reliance on visual information, the way our brains evolve to recognize/perceive/process various stimuli, and our desire to pass “attractive genes” to our offspring so that they may have a higher probability of finding a mate and consequent reproductive success. In a different university in German, they found that people were sexually attracted to the opposite sex in symmetry (both in the human and animal kingdoms). Faces that have a high degree of symmetry are typically considered more attractive as it is associated with good health and genetic quality. Also, the researchers came up with a “formula” for facial beauty involving symmetry because having just a symmetrical face does not necessarily mean you have are attractive. The eyes should be above half of the way down the front of the head and should be 1/5 of the width of the face. Ears should lay flat to the head for the most part and extend from mid eye to the opening of the mouth. Lip edges should line up with the pupil of the eye, no thicker than the closed eyelid. The nose should be at the base just larger than the eye with and sit not too far above the lips. The bridge of the nose should extend straight and not be too protruding or flat. The chin should be gently rounded and smooth. The face should be oval shaped with smooth skin and clear cheekbones and the eyebrows should be tame and separate, but not too thin. >> >> Also, a study done at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) showed that men are drawn to things that signal youth (full lips, small pointed chin, clear eyes and skin, lustrous hair, less wrinkles). This explains the big eye phenomenon in Korea where many women and even men like big eyes, lips, straight & tall nose, pointed, round chin, etc. This study also shows possible results for my experiment as many people seem to like “younger” looking features to older ones
 * **Articles: [|Do looks really matter?]**