From Kim Kardashian to Zayn Malik, many of the most glamorous stars in Hollywood are mixed race.
Now, a study has confirmed that mixed people really are more attractive.
Researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong asked Asian and Caucasian participants to rate photos of people across a range of categories.
The results revealed that mixed race people were not only rated as more attractive, but also more trustworthy, intelligent, and likely to be successful than others.
‘Biracial images trigger more positive social judgments via enhanced trustworthiness and attractiveness,’ the team wrote in their study.
From Kim Kardashian to Zayn Malik, many of the most glamorous stars in Hollywood are mixed race. Now, a study has confirmed that biracial people really are more attractive
The 2021 UK census revealed that mixed race is the third-largest and fastest-growing ethnic minority group in the UK.
Some predictions even estimate that by the end of the century, roughly one in three of the UK population will be mixed race, with this figure rising to 75 per cent by 2150.
Despite these figures, there has been surprisingly little research into how people perceive mixed race faces in different cultures.
Writing in their study, published in Evolutionary Psychology, the researchers, led by XT Wang, explained: ‘Although race may not be an evolutionary default variable for social perception, racial features can be used as cues of social categorization, intergroup relationships, likely coalitional cooperation, and genetic interbreedability.’
For the study, the team enlisted 227 participants from the US and 116 participants from China.
The participants were shown seven pairs of faces (one female and one male in each pair), that ranged from 100 per cent Asian to 100 per cent Caucasian, including morphed biracial composites of 30 per cent, 40 per cent, 50 per cent, 60 per cent, and 70 per cent Caucasian or Asian.
Participants were shown seven pairs of faces (one female and one male in each pair), that ranged from 100 per cent Asian to 100 per cent Caucasian, including morphed biracial composites of 30 per cent, 40 per cent, 50 per cent, 60 per cent, and 70 per cent Caucasian or Asian
For each image, the participants were asked to rate the people shown for attractiveness, trustworthiness, health, intelligence, and career prospects.
The results revealed that across all five categories, biracial faces were rated the highest.
While the reason for these findings remains unclear, the researchers suggest that it may have an evolutionary basis.
‘Biracial facial cues indicate that two parents from different biological groups could interbreed successfully, probably cooperated in raising offspring together, and may have even received alloparental support and assistance from one or both of their groups of origin,’ the team wrote.
‘Thus, biracial features might carry rich information about the evolutionary, genetic, and taxonomic relationships between their parental groups and their capacity for parental and group cooperation.’
Source: Mail Online
