The digital world is increasingly promoting the importance of images: selfies, photographs of holidays, of the gym and of gala dinners, etc. Maybe that’s why some people give so much importance to the question: ” what’s my good profile?” The one with the face, you understand, not the psychological side.

It may be of little importance to some, but the asymmetries that naturally appear in all human faces make it seem interesting to know how to pose better for those portraits that once posted on the Internet will go on to shape one’s public image . However, when it comes to estimating which half looks best in the eyes of others, we are rather clumsy, according to one study.

Choosing the wrong half of the face

The research, carried out by Face Research Lab for the Nikon brand, reveals that we are quite bad at choosing the best side of the face to show in a portrait, at least if we compare our criteria with the opinion of others.

In addition, the results found could be applied to marketing techniques, enhancing the more flattering side of the models associated with the product or service.

How was the study done?

The Face Research Lab team had a group of 100 men and women of various age ranges and ethnicities and asked them what they thought was their most flattering side of the face. With this data in hand, photographs were taken of each profile of the participants’ faces and these were passed on to the others so that they could choose which they thought was the best from the others’ point of view.

However, in 50% of the cases the inverted image (rotated horizontally) of each half was offered so that personal preferences about which side is the best did not influence the results.

The results were very curious: in general we tend to make mistakes so much by thinking about the side of our face that is prettier for others that we get it right more or less half the time or even less, as if it were a simple matter of chance.

In fact, women were significantly worse than men in this respect . In 36% of the cases, they showed preference for the profile that others perceived as less attractive. Men were right 57% of the time, a percentage that remains relatively low if we assume that this is not a simple random choice.

This means that either there is a curious discrepancy between our self-image and the way others value our appearance, or many people pose showing the wrong side believing they will impress others more.

We prefer the left side

Another curious conclusion reached by the research is that most people believe that their left profile is prettier , even taking into account the cases in which the image had been inverted. In fact, he was chosen as the best 61% of the time.

A possible explanation for this is that statistically the left profile is usually more pronounced , i.e. it shows more distinctive and characteristic features that make it more memorable. This result had already been suggested by other research on the subject, but with a nuance; previously it was believed that the fact that the left half was more expressive increased its chances of being appreciated positively.

However, in this research it has been seen that the preference remains the same regardless of whether the photo shows a smile or not . It is that side of the face, and not the way the smile is captured on it, that attracts. Although other investigations reveal that we find faces more attractive when they smile, comparing two profiles that maintain the same expression the left one continues to win.