The most attractive male jaw has been revealed by researchers.
A researcher from the University of Brussels in Belgium conducted two online surveys using black and white photographs of celebrities and non-celebrities.
Participants – both male and female – were shown a series of images of faces, and asked to rate which jaw they found most attractive.
A strong, defined jaw is often considered a sign of masculinity in men.
And in women, the chiseled, angular look is often associated with traditional, classic beauty.
The jaw is considered so important to an overall look that procedures to accentuate the area of the face are becoming increasingly popular.
For instance, the number of procedures such as buccal fat removal – where tissue in the cheekbones is cut out to make the face appear thinner – and jaw filler rose by almost 70 percent in 2021.
In the above image, when asked which picture was most appealing, 52 percent chose image 1. Image five was voted as the second most attractive. The researchers did not specify the order of attractiveness in the remaining three.
The woman on the left (Kate Moss) was considered attractive by 76 percent of participants, while the woman on the right was deemed the least appealing, with 98 percent of participants considering her as unattractive
The studies aimed to determine the specifications of the ‘ideal’ jaw angle for plastic surgeons to recreate when fashioning implants.
Some 81 people – men and women – took part in the survey on male jaws, which featured nine questions based on a set of questions.
The eyes were covered in the photos to reduce the chances of people making decisions based on other facial features.
Celebrities shown to participants included Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt, Colin O’Donoghue, Colton Haynes, Dean Winchester, Hrithik Roshan, Jensen Ackles, Liam Hemsworth, Matthew Bomer, Michael Fassbinder, Richard Armitage, Tahmoh Penikett, and Tom Hiddleston.
Almost half of the participants were facial surgeons.
When asked which of the five pictures above was most appealing, 52 percent chose image 1 and 36 percent chose image 5.
Researchers also asked participants to judge the width of the jaw, the steepness of the jaw from a front-on angle, how high up on the face the jaw was, the face profile view, and the steepness of the jaw from the side on angle.
Some 74 percent of participants said that a concealed jaw – either hidden by fat, sagging skin or a beard, was not aesthetically pleasing.
In a separate survey involving 46 men and women, participants were asked to rate a series of female jaws.
The images of the faces were a mixture of celebrities and non-celebrities.
These included: Angelina Jolie, Kate Moss, Mila Kunis, Irina Shayk, Scarlett Johansson, Kendall Jenner, Margot Robbie, Iris Mittenaere and Emma Watson.
The questionnaire had six questions regarding different aspects of the jawline.
The image of supermodel Kate Moss was considered most attractive by 76 percent of participants, while the unnamed woman on the right (above), with a square-shaped face, was deemed the least appealing.
Around 98 percent of participants considered her face unattractive
The researchers noted several limitations of their study. They said: ‘Complete anonymization of the pictures remained a difficult task.
‘The use of models from the model/fashion/movie industry made the likelihood of recognizing the personalities very high and may account for a source of bias.’
The studies were published in the Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery.