Visible skin condition and perception of human facial appearance
The effect of human skin condition on face perception
人类皮肤状况对面部感知的影响
英文原文
Evolutionary and socialization theory suggests that human facial appearance and attractiveness in particular influence the perception of others in social interactions, as well as development of certain behaviours (e.g. social skills, dating and sexual experience) and traits (e.g. mental and physical health) (reviewed in). Studies have shown that people assign more positive qualities to attractive children and adults than to unattractive ones. In addition, facial attractiveness correlates positively with mating success and, thus, supports the hypothesis that the attractiveness of the face is important in human mate selection. Moreover, people’s view of facial attractiveness seems to be remarkably consistent, regardless of race, nationality, or age (reviewed in). It is, therefore, hardly surprising that humans attach great importance to a beautiful, healthy, and youthful-looking skin. An improvement in facial skin appearance can be accomplished relatively easily through the use of cosmetic products. The visible signs of ageing can also be considerably reduced via injections of Botulinum toxin, the use of dermal fillers, and chemical peels. Despite the highly significant role which humans assign to their facial skin condition, the influence of the biology and associated appearance of skin on mate choice has so far received only little attention in evolutionary psychological research.
对应中文
进化论和社会化理论表明，人的面部外观和吸引力特别影响社会交往中他人的感知，以及某些行为(如社交技能、约会和性经验)和特征(如心理和身体健康)的发展(见文献)。研究表明，人们对有吸引力的儿童和成年人的评价比对没有吸引力的儿童和成年人的评价更为积极。此外，面部吸引力与择偶成功呈正相关，因此支持面部吸引力在人类配偶选择中很重要的假设。此外，无论种族、国籍或年龄，人们对面部吸引力的看法似乎非常一致。因此，人类对美丽、健康和年轻皮肤的重视也就不足为奇了。通过使用化妆品可以相对容易地改善面部皮肤外观。通过注射肉毒杆菌毒素、使用真皮填充物和化学剥脱，衰老的明显迹象也可以大大减少。尽管人类认为面部皮肤状况非常重要，但在进化心理学研究中，皮肤的生物学和相关外观对配偶选择的影响迄今鲜有人关注。
Skin colour, natural and sexual selection
肤色、自然选择和性别选择
英文原文
Geographic variation in skin colour has been attributed to adaptation via natural selection, at least in part. Given that melanin has both UV absorption and ROS scavenging capacity, dark skin is thought to likely be an adaptation to the intensity of ground-level UV-radiation at lower latitudes. Additionally, varying degrees of depigmentation are thought to evolve to permit UV-induced synthesis of previtamin D3. Contradictory to the natural selection pressure for darker skin, cross-cultural studies indicate male preference for lighter-than-average skin colour in sexual partners. In addition to female menstrual cycle-dependent preferences for darker skin complexions in males, both preferences lead to a sexual dichromatism in humans. The observed latitudinal gradient in skin colour seems to result from a balance between natural and sexual selection. Sexual selection theory, however, does not presume that sex differences in skin pigmentation arise exclusively because of sexual selection but, rather, assigns sexual selection a secondary, facultative role. Hence,lighter skin in females is thought to have evolved originally for other reasons and only later became a mate selection criterion for men. Van den Berghe and Frost argued that lighter skin in females arose first by coincidence, e.g. the differing effects of male and female sex hormones on melanin production, causing female skin colouration to fluctu- ate slightly with the menstrual cycle and being lightest, smoothest and most free of blemishes near ovulation. These authors further suggested that men might then have used this visible signal, subconsciously, to assess a female’s hormonal status and thus, her reproductive potential. Other researchers have argued that lighter skin in women acts as infantile mimicry to lessen aggressiveness in men and to stimulate their provisioning instincts, while others assume that women first acquired a lighter skin to facilitate vitamin D synthesis and, thereby, ensure higher calcium reserves for pregnancy and lactation. The different explanations for a preference for lighter skin in women, however, are still controversial.
对应中文
肤色的地理差异至少部分归因于自然选择的适应。
鉴于黑色素既有紫外线吸收能力，又有清除活性氧的能力，深色皮肤被认为可能是对低纬度地面紫外线辐射强度的适应。此外，不同程度的色素脱失被认为允许紫外线诱导合成维生素D3。与深色皮肤的自然选择压力相矛盾的是，跨文化研究表明男性在性伴侣中更倾向于选择肤色低于平均水平的配偶。再加上女性对男性深色皮肤具有月经周期依赖性的偏好，这两种偏好倾向都会导致人类的性伴侣选择。观察到的肤色梯度似乎是自然选择和性别选择之间的平衡结果。然而，性别选择理论并不认为皮肤色素沉着的性别差异完全是因为性别选择，而是将性别选择放在次要的、附加的角色上。因此，女性白皙的皮肤最初被认为是出于其他原因进化而来的，后来才成为男性的择偶标准。Van den Berghe和Frost认为，女性皮肤变浅首先是巧合，例如，男性和女性性激素对黑色素生成的不同影响，导致女性皮肤颜色随月经周期轻微波动，在排卵期附近最轻、最平滑、最无瑕疵。这些作者进一步指出，男性可能会在潜意识中使用这种可见的信号来评估女性的荷尔蒙状态，从而评估其生殖潜力。某些研究人员认为，女性的浅色皮肤就像婴儿模仿一样，可以减少男性的攻击性，刺激他们的供给本能，而其他研究人员则认为女性首先获得浅色皮肤是为了促进维生素D的合成，从而确保怀孕和哺乳时有更高的钙储备。然而，对于女性偏好浅色皮肤的不同解释仍然存在争议。
英文原文
There are also arguments for lighter skin being the most beautiful and desirable because of its association with power, wealth, and privilege due to the persistent effect of European colonization and slavery. Bond and Cash, for instance, found a distinct idealization of lightness among female African Americans. They found that, although women were generally satisfied with their skin tone, those who desired a different skin tone favoured being lighter over being darker. They also found that, in contrast to lightand dark-skinned Black women, the ideal skin tone for medium-toned Black women was significantly lighter than their self-perceived colour. Moreover, the majority of respondents believed that Black men consider light skin most attractive. A more recent study by Hunter provides additional support for the effects of skin colour on women’s perceived attractiveness. As hypothesized, skin tone was found to predict educational and income status in both African-American and Mexican American women. Moreover, lightness of the skin correlated positively with spousal status in African-American women (but not in Mexican-American women).
对应中文
也有观点认为，由于欧洲殖民和奴隶制的持续影响，浅肤色与权力、财富和特权联系在一起，因此是最美丽和最令人向往的。例如，Bond和Cash在非裔美国女性中发现了一种明显的理想化光线。他们发现，尽管女性普遍对自己的肤色感到满意，但那些想要不同肤色的女性更喜欢浅色而不是深色。他们还发现，与浅肤色和深肤色的黑人女性相比，中等肤色的黑人女性的理想肤色明显比她们自我感知的肤色浅。此外，大多数受访者认为黑人男性认为浅色皮肤最有吸引力。Hunter最近的一项研究为肤色对女性吸引力的影响提供了额外的支持。正如假设的那样，研究发现，肤色可以预测非裔美国女性和墨西哥裔美国女性的受教育程度和收入状况。此外，在非洲裔美国女性中，皮肤的白度与配偶地位呈正相关(但在墨西哥裔美国女性中则不然)。
Skin condition as a signal in mate choice
作为择偶信号的皮肤状况
英文原文
As the face provides important non-verbal information through facial expression and the display of facial form and skin condition, face perception and visual attention towards faces are critical in human social communication. Studies by Langlois et al. and Maner et al. have reported a positive correlation between visual attention and perceived facial attractiveness. In accordance with these studies, Fink et al. were able to link visual attention to perceived age and attractiveness judgements. This study not only revealed that the number of eye fixations and dwell time were positively correlated with skin colour homogeneity, but also that they were negatively correlated with perceived age and positively so with perceived attractiveness . The detrimental effects of facial ageing on attractiveness ratings in women are consistent with other studies reporting that old faces are generally perceived to be less attractive than young faces. The signs of cutaneous ageing, however, do not negatively influence people’s judgments on facial attractiveness in an equal fashion. For instance, Perrett et al. showed that the evaluation of facial attractiveness reflects the learning of parental characteristics. When considering the attractiveness of female images for possible long-term relationships, men whose mothers were older than 30 years of age at their birth were less impressed by visual youth cues than men with younger mothers. However, maternal age did not impact upon judgements of similar images for possible short-term relationships. In women, and in contrast to the findings in men, the age of both parents influenced preferences for men for both possible short-term and long-term relationships. Judgements on same-sex faces (i.e. the judge was the same gender as the subject) revealed decreased attractiveness with increasing age cues. Furthermore, the age of the person surveyed appears to influence attractiveness rating of facial stimuli, that is, older respondents evaluated faces more positively for attractiveness than younger partici- pants.
对应中文
人脸通过面部表情、面部形态和皮肤状况提供重要的非言语信息，因此，人脸感知和对人脸的视觉注意在人类社会交际中至关重要。Langlois等人和Maner等人的研究报告了视觉注意力和感知的面部吸引力之间的正相关关系。根据这些研究，Fink等人能够将视觉注意力与感知的年龄和吸引力判断联系起来。这项研究不仅表明眼睛注视的次数和停留时间与皮肤颜色的均匀性呈正相关，而且与感知的年龄呈负相关、与感知的吸引力呈正相关。脸部老化对女性吸引力评分的影响与其他研究一致，这些研究报告称，人们通常认为老年面孔不如年轻面孔。然而，皮肤老化的迹象并不会以同样的方式负面影响人们对面部吸引力的判断。例如，Perrett等人表明，对外貌的评价反映了对外貌特征的学习。当考虑到女性形象对可能的长期关系的吸引力时，出生时母亲年龄大于30岁的男性比出生时母亲尚年轻的男性对青春视觉线索的印象要小得多。然而，母亲年龄并不影响对可能的短期关系的类似图像的判断。与男性的研究结果相反，女性和男性的年龄都会影响男性对可能的短期和长期关系的偏好。对同性面孔的判断（即法官与受试者的性别相同）表明，随着年龄线索的增加，吸引力降低。此外，受调查者的年龄似乎会影响面部刺激的吸引力评级，也就是说，年龄较大的受调查者比年龄较小的受调查者更积极地评价面部的吸引力。
Skin condition as a signal in mate choice
作为择偶信号的皮肤状况
英文原文
It is reported that female mate value is determined principally by fertility and health, which are both correlated with age. Furthermore, variance in reproductive success is lower for females than for males and they also have a narrow reproductive window compared to males. Selection pressure on males to choose females on the basis of age should be much stronger than in females, whereas females should compete with each other for high quality spouses by advertising reproductive potential and exaggerating morphological indicators of youthfulness. With reference to the skin, a more unblemished, relative hairless and smooth skin indicates low androgen and high oestrogen concentrations (reviewed in) and, thus, may signal fertility. In this view, skin wrinkling and changes in skin colour distribution are the most obvious cues that indicate a person’s age. Schneider et al. propose that the quality of skin condition is important in attracting mates during the reproductive phase of human life whereas, after menopause, it is no longer a factor in selection pressure. For instance, the loss of ovarian oestrogen causes a decline in skin collagen content as well as alterations in skin pigmentation.
对应中文
据报道，女性配偶价值主要由生育率和健康状况决定，两者都与年龄相关。此外，女性的生殖成功率的个体差异较小、生殖时间窗也比男性窄，因此，男性根据年龄挑选配偶的选择压力应该比女性大得多，而女性可以通过宣传生殖潜力和夸大年轻的形态指标来竞争获取高质量的配偶。关于皮肤，无瑕疵、相对无毛和光滑的皮肤表明低雄激素和高雌激素浓度(见文献)，因此，可能是生育的信号。在这个观点中，皮肤皱纹和皮肤颜色分布的变化是表明一个人年龄的最明显的线索。Schneideret等人提出，在人类生命的生殖阶段，皮肤状况的好坏对吸引配偶很重要，而在绝经后，皮肤状况的好坏不再是选择压力的一个因素。例如，卵巢雌激素的丢失会导致皮肤胶原含量下降以及皮肤色素沉着的改变。
英文原文
As the face is the most frequently exposed part of the body and always visible to others, facial skin condition might be used as an honest indicator of female mate value. This hypothesis is supported by the findings of Furnham et al, who found facial age to have a more significant influence on the assessment of attributes such as youthfulness, attractiveness, fertility, healthiness, and fecundity, than other oestrogendependent body features such as waist-to-hip ratio (WHR).
对应中文
由于面部是身体暴露最频繁的部位，并且总是对其他人可见，因此面部皮肤状况可作为女性配偶价值的真实指标。Furnhamet等人的研究结果支持了这一假设，他们发现，与其他雌激素依赖性身体特征（如腰臀比）相比，面部年龄对诸如年轻度、吸引力、生育能力、健康度和生殖力等属性的评估具有更为显著的影响。
英文原文
In contrast, many male characteristics, which seem to be chosen by females, are correlated positively with age (reviewed in). On this basis, women should prefer men of a greater age. However, females do not only choose their mates on the basis of characteristics which advertise adequate parental investment in terms of resource and social status, but also on physical attributes, which indicate individual quality in terms of body condition and reproductive quality. The study by Jones et al. provides the first evidence that women may also use the condition of skin in male faces to evaluate their health and attractiveness. Both are particularly important when considering an appropriate mate to sire offspring. Although many desired male characteristics are correlated positively with age, previous findings by Adams and Huston as well as Cross and Cross did not support the hypothesis that middle-aged men are considered to be more attractive than middle-aged women (35–55 years). Hence, cutaneous ageing also has detrimental effects on attractiveness ratings in men. Recent studies indicate that the older the putative father is, the higher the chance of passing on genetic defects to his offspring (reviewed in). Moreover, studies have shown that fertility significantly declines with age in men older than 45. Given these findings, women should also derive benefit from correctly perceiving the age of a putative mate and almost certainly use signs of cutaneous ageing in the male face to assess his inherent mate value.
对应中文
相反，许多似乎由女性选择的男性特征与年龄呈正相关(见文献)。在此基础上，女性应该更喜欢年龄较大的男性。但是，女性不仅根据宣扬父母在资源和社会地位方面的投资的特征来选择配偶，而且还根据身体特征来选择伴侣，这些特征表明了个人在身体状况和生殖质量方面的质量。Jones等人的研究首次证明，女性也可以利用男性面部的皮肤状况来评估自己的健康和吸引力。在考虑与父系后代的合适配偶时，两者都特别重要。尽管许多理想的男性特征与年龄呈正相关，但Adams和Huston以及Cross和他之前的研究结果并不支持中年男性比中年女性（35-55岁）更具吸引力的假设。因此，皮肤老化对男性的吸引力也有不利影响。最近的研究表明，假定为父亲的年龄越大，将遗传缺陷遗传给后代的机会就越高(见文献)。此外，研究表明，在45岁以上的男性中，生育率随着年龄的增长而显著下降。考虑到这些发现，女性也应该从正确感知假定配偶的年龄中获益，几乎可以肯定地使用男性面部皮肤老化的迹象来评估他固有的配偶价值。
Conclusions
结论
英文原文
Studies in evolutionary psychology investigating facial attractiveness have focused mainly on facial form. Yet, the significance of visible skin condition on the perception of human facial appearance needs to be determined. There is now evidence accumulating from recent research that visible facial skin condition influences perception and attractiveness judgements, and could thus also signal aspects of mate value. Preliminary results indicate that humans are highly sensitive to signs of age such as (even subtle) alterations in skin colour distribution and surface topography, which occur because of intrinsic and extrinsic ageing processes. This sensitivity towards facial age cues is expressed not only through the judgment of facial attributes, such as attractiveness, health and youth but also through altered visual attention. As fertility and health are both negatively correlated with age, facial age may thus provide reliable information on an individual’s mate quality. Furthermore, as female skin colouration changes slightly across the menstrual cycle, more detailed research on alterations in both melanin and haemoglobin concentration and distribution in the course of this cycle would be interesting.
对应中文
进化心理学对面部吸引力的研究主要集中在面部形态上。然而，可见皮肤状况对人类面部外观感知的重要性还需要确定。最近的研究积累了越来越多的证据表明，可见的面部皮肤状况会影响感知和吸引力判断，因此也可能影响配偶价值的重要方面。初步结果表明，人类对年龄的迹象高度敏感，如皮肤颜色分布和表面形貌的(甚至是细微的)变化，这些变化是由于内在和外在的衰老过程造成的。这种对面部年龄线索的敏感性不仅表现在对面部属性的判断上，如吸引力、健康和年轻，而且还表现在对视觉注意力的改变上。生育能力和健康状况都与年龄呈负相关，因此面部年龄可以提供有关个体配偶质量的可靠信息。此外，由于女性皮肤颜色在整个月经周期中变化不大，对黑色素和血红蛋白在这一周期过程中的浓度和分布的变化进行更详细的研究将是很有意义的。
英文原文
As studies investigating human skin condition were conducted primarily with Caucasian women from the United Kingdom, Austria, or Germany, cross-cultural studies are needed to investigate if the putative signal value of skin condition is universal or, rather, depends on socio-ecological conditions. In consideration of ethnic differences in the cutaneous ageing process, attractiveness ratings of non-Caucasians with varying skin surface topography are also needed. Furthermore, there are hardly any published data on the signal value of male skin condition. Indeed, as it has been argued that the appearance of facial skin might be more important in women than in men (because of a relatively narrow reproductive window), most of the studies investigating human skin condition are restricted to female stimuli. However, recent findings also suggest a decrease in fertility with age in men (e.g. reviewed in) and, thus, investigations into the putative impact of age signals in male faces might also be worthwhile.
对应中文
由于调查人类皮肤状况的研究主要是针对来自英国、奥地利或德国的高加索妇女进行的，因此需要进行跨文化研究，以调查皮肤状况的假定信号值是普遍的还是取决于社会生态条件。考虑到皮肤老化过程中的种族差异，还需要对具有不同皮肤表面形貌的非白种人进行吸引力评估。此外，几乎没有任何关于男性皮肤状况信号值的公开数据。事实上，有人认为女性面部皮肤的外观可能比男性更重要（因为生殖窗口相对狭窄），大多数研究人类皮肤状况的研究仅限于女性刺激因子。然而，最近的研究结果也表明男性生育能力随年龄的增长而下降（例如，在文献中进行了回顾），因此，对男性面部年龄信号的假定影响的研究也可能是值得的。
英文原文
Finally, given that the ageing process causes an uneven distribution in facial adipose tissue and that facial features such as symmetry and sexual dimorphism strongly influence attractiveness judgements, the interaction of skin topography and facial form deserves special attention in future studies. In closing, we believe that the determinants of skin appearance and perception identified and discussed in this review are of particular interest to the cosmetic scientist, as they are at the heart of the continuing consumer demand for better technologies to address these issues. We believe that a more complete under standing of the mechanisms of skin appearance and the psychology of perception will inevitably improve our ability to identify new and more relevant cutaneous targets and concurrent innovation of better technology.
对应中文
最后，考虑到衰老过程导致面部脂肪组织分布不均，以及面部特征（如对称性和性别二型性）强烈影响吸引力判断，皮肤形态和面部形态的相互作用值得在未来研究中特别注意。最后，我们认为，本综述中确定和讨论的皮肤外观和感知的决定因素对化妆品科学家来说特别重要，因为它们是持续消费者需要更好的技术来解决这些问题的核心。我们相信，对皮肤外表的潜在机制和感知心理学有更全面的了解，将一定提高我们识别新的、更新的皮肤目标的能力，并带着更好的技术创新。
REFERENCES
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Samson N, Fink B, Matts PJ.Visible skin condition and perception of human facial appearance.Int J Cosmet Sci. 2010 Jun;32(3):167-84.