Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; specifically the conservative beholder, according to a new study.
Researchers from the University of California in Los Angeles determined that conservative women are more likely than liberal politicians to have the feminine features that people find attractive.
“Female politicians with stereotypically feminine facial features are more likely to be Republican than Democrat, and the correlation increases the more conservative the lawmaker’s voting record,” said Colleen M. Carpinella, a UCLA graduate student and co-author of the study.
Study participants were asked to look at each photo of the 434 members of the U.S. Congress and decide which political party they thought each person belonged to. Participants were able to determine the correct political party 98 percent of the time.
While beauty is entirely subjective, the more traditionally attractive facial features were pegged, almost entirely accurately, as conservative.
From the study:
“The model compared each representative’s face to the norm on more than 100 subtle dimensions, including the shape of the jaw, the location of eyebrows, the placement of cheek bones, the shape of eyes, the contour of the forehead, the fullness of the lips and the distance between such features as the bottom of the nose and the top of the lip. Armed with these dimensions, the researchers were able to arrive at an amalgamated score assessing the extent to which the face exhibited characteristics common to men or to women.”
Let’s take this theory to the ultimate litmus test: The Daily Caller slideshow.