(i’m going to have a little rant here but nothing against TILthat who is great and informative.)

This fact has always bugged me because i grew up with body dysmorphia and most of my friends and family talk about how they aren’t good looking even when they’re total babes and I know “well but my friend is - “ is not a way of discounting studies.

BUT

I looked into it, and these studies were done with all white people, all under graduates (i.e. privileged enough to go to university and younger than 24), and the studies were done on less than 30 people.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, the study took photos of people, photo shopped them to be “more or less attractive” then asked them to pick which face was theirs. The way they made people less attractive? Making them look older and frowning. the way they made them look more attractive was things like enhancing make up, smoothing out the skin, and narrowing the chin.

That last one especially bugs me because the majority of the time, you only see your face in a mirror. And your face does look narrower in a mirror just due to the angle and the fact you’re moving.

So it’s not that “people see their faces as more attractive than they are” it’s “these particular 27 teenagers/young adults who are able to attend university and like volunteering for studies see themselves as having smoother skin and more make up on than they do.”