title: Gender, age, and psychosocial context of the perception of facial esthetics.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the effects of gender, age, and psychosocial context on the perception of facial esthetics.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 1,444 Caucasian subjects aged 16 to 85 years. Two sets of color photographs illustrating 13 male and 13 female Caucasian facial type alterations, representing different skeletal and dentoalveolar components of sagittal maxillary-mandibular relationships, were used to estimate the facial profile attractiveness. The examinees graded the profiles based on a 0 to 10 numerical rating scale. The examinees graded the profiles of their own sex only from a social perspective, whereas opposite sex profiles were graded both from the social and emotional perspective separately.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The perception of facial esthetics was found to be related to the gender, age, and psychosocial context of evaluation (p < 0.05). The most attractive profiles to men are the orthognathic female profile from the social perspective and the moderate bialveolar protrusion from the emotional perspective. The most attractive profile to women is the orthognathic male profile, when graded from the social aspect, and the mild bialveolar retrusion when graded from the emotional aspect. The age increase of the assessor results in a higher attractiveness grade.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  When planning treatment that modifies the facial profile, the clinician should bear in mind that the perception of facial profile esthetics is a complex phenomenon influenced by biopsychosocial factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study allows a better understanding of the concept of perception of facial esthetics that includes gender, age, and psychosocial context.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia.
authors.forename: Nikoleta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tole
authors.forename: Vlatka
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lajnert
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kovacevic Pavicic
authors.forename: Stjepan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spalj
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult