Facial Symmetry - Relationship To Personality

Relationship To Personality

Research indicates that facial symmetry is linked to the ‘big-five’ model of personality. The most consistent finding is that facial symmetry is positively correlated with extraversion, indicating that individuals with more symmetric faces are also more extroverted. More symmetrical faces are also judged to be lower on neuroticism but higher on conscientiousness and agreeableness. More symmetrical faces are also more likely to have more desirable social attributes assigned to them, such as sociable, intelligent or lively.

However, the relationship of facial symmetry and the ‘big-five’ personality model remains somewhat unclear with regard to neuroticism, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness. While the previously described studies lead to the expectations that more symmetrical faces will be higher on extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness, and lower on neuroticism, these expectations were not confirmed empirically. openness and agreeableness appear to be significantly negatively related to facial symmetry, while neuroticism and conscientiousness do not seem to be linked to facial symmetry. The relationship of facial symmetry and the ‘big-five’ personality model requires further examination in order to allow for complete conclusions to be drawn.