There have been many studies on the human's
perception of
beauty, and if there is a universal model for beauty.
One very popular theory is the human preference for
symmetrical faces. Symmetrical faces are thought to signal ' healthiness ' to the viewer.
The odd thing is that 6 month old
babies also show this preference for symmetrical faces. They spent more time looking at pictures of symmetrical faces, rather than
asymmetrical ones.
Evolutionary psychologists use this type of evidence to argue for the presence of universal modules in the human
brain that have evolved as part of our
mate selection strategy. You can read about this research in
Discover 21/2 February 2000 which is available
online.