The Atlantic

How Your Face Shapes Your Economic Chances

A new study on the value of a fat face (for guys) joins a long tradition of beauty biases in the office
Source: Yuri Gripas / Reuters

Beauty, closely studied, seems nearly indistinguishable from quick math.

Men seem to prefer women with a low waist-to-hip ratio. Women prefer men with optimally long jaws. For reasons we don't entirely understand, humans find symmetrical faces consistently bewitching. A 2005 study found women can accurately guess the symmetry of a man's face just by . These calculations are made with breathtaking speed. We decide whether. (That's .)

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