LONDON: The secret of seduction could be as simple as standing next to an ugly friend. Researchers have discovered that our judgments of people vary according to the company they keep.
If their companion is a plain Jane or a dull Dave, they seem far more appealing.
Scientists at Royal Holloway, University of London, asked volunteers to rate pictures of different faces for attractiveness.
They were then asked to assess the same faces placed alongside ones perceived to be on the ugly side. The addition of these "distractor" images led to the original faces seeming more fanciable.
Study author Nicholas Furl said: "We live in a society obsessed with beauty and attractiveness. It’s been understood that a person’s level of attractiveness is generally steady. However, this work demonstrates that the company we keep has an effect on how attractive we appear to others.
Another experiment showed that introducing a plain face made volunteers home in on the differences between two attractive ones.
"The presence of a distrac- tor face makes differences between attractive people more obvious." – Daily Mail