University of Portsmouth scientists debunk "beer goggles" theory relating to facial symmetry

Composite image issued by the University of Portsmouth of photos used during a study as scientists have debunked a theory that the "beer goggles" effect works by people finding someone more attractive because their faces appear more symmetrical. Picture by University of Portsmouth

The team of Portsmouth questioned 99 men and women in a pub in the city to test how people rate looks after a few drinks.

A spokeswoman said: “The term ‘beer goggles’ has been used for decades to describe when a person finds themselves sexually attracted to someone while intoxicated, but not sober.

“One possible explanation for the effect is that alcohol impairs the drinker’s ability to detect facial asymmetry, thus making potential partners more visually appealing.

Undated file photo of a woman drinking red wine. Picture by Ian West/PA Wire

“Existing research has shown that a part of what makes people attractive to others is how well both sides of their face match.

“The thinking goes, the more symmetry the better the gene pool. But when alcohol is introduced, it’s thought a person is less likely to notice if the faces around them are non-symmetrical.

“However, a new experiment found that while alcohol did impair face symmetry detection, it had no influence on facial attractiveness judgements.”

Dr Alistair Harvey, from the university’s department of psychology, said: “Alcohol is a strong predictor of sexual behaviour, often consumed before or during dates.

“There are a range of possible reasons why alcohol drinkers are more inclined to engage in sex, including a lack of inhibition, heightened expectations, personality traits, and the beer goggles effect.

“Due to the limited research on this topic, we ran a field experiment to help determine why people often experience unexpected, and regretted, sexual escapades after having one too many.”

The volunteers, aged from 18 to 62 years old, were asked to rate 18 individual faces for attractiveness and symmetry.

Each type of rating was given twice, once for faces showing an enhanced asymmetry, and again for the same faces in their natural form.

Participants for the study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology then judged which of two same-face versions (one normal, the other perfectly symmetrised) was more attractive and, in the final task, more symmetrical.

The researchers found that heavily intoxicated individuals were less able to distinguish natural from perfectly symmetrised faces than more sober drinkers. But they found that the more drunk viewers did not rate the faces as being any more attractive.

Dr Harvey said that an explanation for the findings could be that attractiveness depends on many factors rather than just the small effects of face symmetry.

He said: “Further research is needed to find the missing piece to the puzzle.”