• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Scientists reveal why the left side of your face is actually considered your 'good side'

Home> Community

Published 15:17 9 Jul 2024 GMT+1

Scientists reveal why the left side of your face is actually considered your 'good side'

You might think there's nothing in it, but one study has suggested a potential reason why we have a preference for one side of our faces

Kit Roberts

Kit Roberts

Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/aire images/Alena Frolova

Topics: Science, Beauty

Kit Roberts
Kit Roberts

Kit joined UNILAD in 2023 as a community journalist. They have previously worked for StokeonTrentLive, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Star.

Advert

Advert

Advert

We've all been there, posing for a quick selfie on a night out, only for this 'quick selfie' to swiftly descend into a full blown photo shoot as no angle seems quite right.

But one psychology paper has suggested that there may actually be a 'correct' angle for us to take a picture from.

Of course, anyone who has a lot of pictures taken of them will have a good idea of how they look best when having their picture taken.

No-one wants to be surprised by a photographer and show up flaunting a strained grimace in place of a smile.

Advert

But let's assume that you get adequate warning and manage to not look like a startled possum in the picture, there is still an objective 'best side' according to this study.

Not only that, but it's not even based on the idiosyncratic face shape of the person in the picture.

It seems there could be a 'correct' angle. (Xavier Lorenzo / Getty)
It seems there could be a 'correct' angle. (Xavier Lorenzo / Getty)

So, what is this based on?

In a strange but fascinating idea, the study proposes that the way that our brains are structured could affect how we perceive the different sides of our face.

Advert

Specifically, the theory suggests that the left side of our face is the 'right' side to preference when taking a selfie.

Is that clear? The left side is the right side, right?

The study, which was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology first noted that the majority of people seemed to have a bias for adopting a preferred pose.

The theory was put forward by Annukka Lindell, a senior lecturer in experimental neuropsychology at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

Advert

It consisted of Lindell examining 2,000 selfies to find out which side of the face featured more.

But why the particular focus on one side? (monkeybusinessimages / Getty)
But why the particular focus on one side? (monkeybusinessimages / Getty)

The study found that the pictures showed 'left cheek bias' 41 percent of the time, 31.5 percent on a 'right cheek bias', an overall 'midline bias' at 19.5 percent, and 'no overall bias' at 8 percent.

Lindell wrote: "Given that only 8 percent of selfie- takers showed no overall bias, the tendency to repeatedly adopt a preferred pose appears to be the norm for selfie takers."

But why the left side?

One explanation could be that the left side of the face is more connected to the right hemisphere in the brain, which covers emotions.

Advert

In layperson's terms, this means that the left side exhibits emotions more 'fully', the theory proposes.

If the theory is correct then it seems there may actually be an objective answer to which is our 'best side'.

Choose your content:

4 days ago
5 days ago
8 days ago
  • Getty Images/Me 3645 Studio
    4 days ago

    Expert issues warning about new 'job hugging' trend which could ruin your career

    You might know every little corner of your office now, but are you hanging on for the sake of it?

    Community
  • SWNS
    4 days ago

    Couple finally discover wild truth behind mysterious stranger in their wedding picture four years later

    The couple now know the hilarious story as to why a 'random stranger' was at their wedding

    Community
  • Getty Stock Image
    5 days ago

    Psychologists issue stark warning on why you should never be 'best friends' with your parents

    Experts have expressed concerns about something known as 'parentification'

    Community
  • SWNS
    8 days ago

    Woman charges her husband $600 a month if he doesn't do his household chores

    The man's wife keeps score on a spreadsheet and creates a bill

    Community
  • Doctors reveal why gross shower habit is actually good for us and the planet
  • Scientists reveal the real reason why McDonald's actually tastes better outside the US
  • Scientists reveal what the length of your fingers really says about you and it might be surprising
  • Scientists are baffled after finding part of the Sun is actually 'broken'