What makes a jawline attractive? What studies actually show

What attraction research measures

Most studies show volunteers photos of faces, often digitally changed, and ask them to rate attractiveness. Across many studies, three features come up again and again: symmetry, "averageness" (a face close to the population average) and skin that looks healthy.¹

The masculinity question

A strong jaw is part of what researchers call facial masculinity. Here the results are genuinely mixed:

• A 1998 study in Nature found that, on average, both men and women preferred slightly feminised versions of male faces.²
• A 1999 study suggested women's preference for more masculine faces rose at certain points in the menstrual cycle.³
• A large 2018 study failed to find that cycle effect, which shows how hard these findings are to pin down.⁴

The fair summary: some people find a strong, defined jaw very attractive, others don't weigh it much, and context matters.

Why a defined jaw still gets noticed

A visible jawline often goes with things that are attractive in their own right: lower body fat, good posture, healthy skin and a confident expression. Training the masseter adds some width at the angle of the jaw, but leanness and posture shape the outline at least as much.

A realistic goal

Train your jaw because it's a simple habit that makes the muscle stronger and makes you feel good about putting the work in, not to fit a single ideal. Combine it with what moves the needle most: a healthy body-fat level, sleep, posture and looking after your skin.