Unveiling the "Less is More" paradox: How experience and cognitive filling drive attractiveness in occluded faces.

ABSTRACT: The "Less is More" phenomenon, the intriguing elevation of facial attractiveness under conditions of limited visual information (e.g., masked faces), has garnered significant attention since the COVID-19 pandemic. This study delves into the influence of experience on this phenomenon and its underlying cognitive mechanisms through three experiments. Experiment 1 examined attractiveness ratings of occluded, predicted and complete faces with four occlusion types before and after the pandemic onset. Experiment 2 investigated how participants mentally complete faces occluded by sunglasses by selecting from high-, low-attractiveness, and average eye representations. Experiment 3 explored the impact of familiarity. Participants first familiarized themselves with half of the faces, then rated the

SUBMITTER: Gao Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12660576 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature