We tend to remember unattractive faces better than attractive ones because the latter need to have a distinctive feature to register in our memory, University of Jena psychologists find.
Angelina Jolie is considered to be the epitome of female beauty. People instantly remember what she looks like, more so because of her characteristic lips . This confirms popular beliefs that attractive faces leave a lasting impression on our memory. And this is true.
"On the one hand we find very symmetrical and rather average faces appealing," Dr. Holger Wiese of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) said in a press statement. "On the other hand, people who are perceived as being particularly attractive stand out by additional traits, which distinguish them from the average."
So what makes us remember attractive faces for a longer duration? Researcher of the study found that it is not the overall appeal of the face but specific features like big eyes, fuller lips or a gorgeous smile that compels us to remember the face for longer durations.
Wiese found that if an attractive face is missing such a distinctive facial feature, it leaves a lesser distinctive impressions on our memory and we don't remember that face. In fact, people tend to remember unattractive faces better than attractive faces without particularly remarkable features.
For the study, participants were shown various photos. In the pictures, one half of the face was considered attractive and the other half unattractive. Participants were shown the photos for only a few seconds before they were tested on which part of the face they remember better.
"Until now we assumed that it was generally easier to memorize faces, which are being perceived as attractive - just because we prefer looking at beautiful faces", according to Wiese. "The recognition in the case of attractive faces is distorted by emotional influences which exacerbate the recognition at a later time."
The researchers' idea is backed up by evidence from EEG-recordings showing the brain's electric activity, which the scientists used during their experiment. The study also revealed that in the case of attractive faces, considerably more false positive results were detected. This means that people assumed they recognize an attractive face even if they had never seen it before.
