A study of dating apps uncovered a bias against unattractive faces, which was amplified when photo filters were applied. In particular, male faces that were considered unattractive were judged more harshly than female faces with similar characteristics.

I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2025-11380-001

From the linked article:

A recent study published in the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science has shed light on how people judge unfamiliar faces on dating apps, particularly when these faces are enhanced with photo filters. Subtle photo filters—those that make small, barely noticeable changes to appearance—tended to increase how much people “liked” a face. In contrast, exaggerated filters, which make faces look more artificial, had the opposite effect, reducing the level of “liking.”

The researchers found that individuals with more unrestricted sociosexuality were more likely to trust faces, especially those with subtle filters. This suggests that people who are more open to casual relationships might be more willing to trust the faces they encounter on dating apps, even when those faces are altered with filters. This could be because these individuals are more accustomed to making quick decisions about potential romantic or sexual partners based on appearance alone, making them more receptive to slight enhancements in how people present themselves online.

As expected, attractive faces were rated as more trustworthy and were liked more than unattractive faces. Neutral faces fell in between. The findings support the “beautiful-is-good” stereotype, where attractive people are often perceived more positively across various traits, including trustworthiness. Interestingly, the bias against unattractive faces was stronger than the positive bias for attractive faces. This means unattractive faces were not only liked less but were also judged more harshly in terms of trust.

Another significant finding was that subtle photo filters generally increased how much participants liked a face, while exaggerated filters reduced this likability. Faces with no filter fell in between. This suggests that small adjustments to a person’s appearance can enhance how positively they are perceived, but when those alterations become too obvious or artificial, they begin to detract from the face’s appeal. Surprisingly, however, the level of filtering did not significantly affect trustworthiness judgments.

The researchers also uncovered a bias against unattractive faces, which was amplified when filters were applied. In particular, male faces that were considered unattractive were judged more harshly than female faces with similar characteristics. This finding aligns with other studies suggesting that men who are perceived as unattractive may face greater social penalties, particularly when they are judged as less trustworthy or more threatening.

But didn’t Reddit say you just need to take a shower and be nice?

Did you guys even read this? The real takeaway is regardless of how you look, using fake filters was a negative. Basically the brain is able to detect the manipulation and the image and it sends a signal that’s more or less like this isn’t right.

Why some of you are flying off into personality and the like I don’t really know but I will tell you this much, if the personalities when you meet a perspective partner or anything like many of you type online, you’re just drilling holes in your own boat