How Do I Look? The Impact of Unique and Intermediate Hues on Perceived Attractiveness

Abstract

Hering's unique hues (uHs) are hypothesized to exhibit enhanced perceptual salience due to their role in the opponent-process theory of color vision, which posits that human color perception is structured around two opposing pairs: red–green and yellow–blue. This perceptual distinctiveness may influence aesthetic judgments, particularly in social contexts such as clothing attractiveness. Two experiments, involving 78 and 40 participants, respectively, assessed the influence of uHs and intermediate hues (iHs) on attractiveness ratings of computer-generated models. These models were created by averaging photographs of real individuals and were presented against neutral gray backgrounds. Results demonstrated significantly higher attractiveness ratings for models dressed in uHs compared to iHs, with unique red (uR) showing particularly strong effects (p < 0.0001, Cohen's d = 0.72–0.83). However, findings do not confirm superior perceptual salience of uHs relative to iHs. While the study provides valuable insights into the understanding of color perception in social contexts and its potential implications for clothing design, its findings are limited by the use of averaged uHs, a restricted sample of models, and controlled laboratory conditions, which may impact generalizability to diverse populations and real-world settings.