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People With These Eye Features Are Considered the Most Attractive

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A new study indicates that there may be more important eye features than color when it comes to affecting how others perceive you.

Experts from the Netherlands’ Leiden University recently released a new report on how our eyes influence how others see us.

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The report included two studies in which humans reviewed a series of photos of primates. In the photos, the two characteristics that scientists altered were pupil size and iris brightness.

Participants were asked to rate the portraits in terms of how “cute, friendly, and attractive” the animals appeared. They were also asked how much money they would donate to each portrait.

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“Participants donated substantially more when exposed to portraits showing primates with bright, rather than dark, irises,” the pros determined. “Donations were also greater when pupils were depicted to be dilated rather than constricted.”

Primates with bright irises and dilated pimples were rated as cuter and friendlier than their counterparts.

“Our results demonstrate that small changes in perceived eye morphology impact behavior and affective responses,” the study concluded. “Donation behavior and affective responses are importantly affected when we manipulate the perceived iris brightness and pupil size of our portraits.”

iris brightness and pupil dilation greatly affect how others perceive you

The Leiden data echoes the findings of Zachary Estes’ July 2024 study at the University of London.

Estes found that “people appear more attractive when their irises are bigger, showing more brightness in their eyes.”

This perceived increase in attraction is likely part of the reason for a recent rise in eye-altering surgeries. Keratopigmentation, iris implants, and laser depigmentation procedures are all becoming more viable options for those seeking to alter their eyes.

However, there are plenty of risks. TikTok influencer Diana Khalil got iris implants in order to make her dream of having blue eyes come true.

Ultimately though, the procedure led to glaucoma and vision loss in both eyes, and she’s needed several corrective surgeries since.

After getting the implants about 10 years ago, she’s since had them removed. Yet she still wakes up with blurry vision to this day.

“It is a big deal, and I’m not fine,” she said on TikTok.