Women's faces are consistently rated as more attractive than men's across cultures, age groups and sexual orientations, according to a new study—but research revealed a twist when looking closely at male beauty. The study, led by the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, examined what scientists call the "Gender Attractiveness Gap" (GAP), and the findings were published in Current Opinion in Psychology. While ratings of female facial attractiveness followed an approximately normal distribution—meaning most scores clustered symmetrically around an average—ratings of male faces told a different story.
Instead of a similar bell curve, male attractiveness scores showed a disproportionate upper tail: a distinct subgroup of men rated as exceptionally attractive, even though men's average scores were lower overall. The study's sole author, Eugen Wassiliwizky of the MPIEA, told Newsweek he hopes the research reframes the conversation around beauty entirely. "I hope my research shifts the focus from 'who is more attractive?' to 'why does the human mind evaluate beauty the way it does?'" Wassiliwizky said.
The results may help explain what the study describes as a cultural paradox. Male beauty has been celebrated for millennia, from classical sculpture to contemporary pop culture, even though men rate lower than women on average. The research suggests these celebrated representations may disproportionately draw from that exceptional upper tier of male attractiveness, rather than reflecting the male average.
The research also challenges how scientists use attractiveness ratings. Such ratings are often treated as indicators of partner preference, sexual attraction or "mate value"—a person's perceived desirability as a potential partner. But the GAP is not limited to evaluations of potential partners.
It is, in fact, particularly pronounced when heterosexual women rate other women's faces, suggesting attractiveness ratings may reflect a broader system of aesthetic judgment rather than sexual desire alone. That distinction, the study argues, could reshape how attractiveness is studied going forward. Alli Spotts-De Lazzer, a licensed psychotherapist and body image specialist with nearly two decades of clinical experience, told Newsweek the findings undercut a common assumption.
"These findings challenge the common assumption that rating someone as attractive reflects sexual or romantic interest," Spotts-De Lazzer said. "Attractiveness seems to be shaped by more than a sexual pull…At least in part, the ranking of looks may come from a much broader social judgment—one that includes, for example, cultural ideals and possibly the perceived status of the features people currently associate with social acceptance or advantage." Spotts-De Lazzer added that in her clinical work, she has seen attractiveness become tied to a sense of safety, with people believing that looking a certain way helps them fit in, gain approval or avoid criticism—a dynamic she said social media now amplifies rapidly. "This study suggests research needs to more clearly distinguish between appreciating a face aesthetically or due to learned beauty standards, and experiencing actual sexual attraction," she said.
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