Do guys like septum rings? Are they attractive?
Two science experiments
Author: Chris Blonk
Let us settle the debate once and for all. Do guys like septum rings on women? Do they impact how attractive you look? To answer this question we performed two simple experiments. Using Photoshop, we can compare apples-to-apples with the same photo of two women with and without a septum ring. Which will men find the most attractive, smart, and trustworthy?
Subjects and environment
Approximately 400 male voters on Photofeeler.com
Test stimulus
We found two public images of women with septum rings. These images are free to use for any purpose under the Creative Commons License. We edited each image by removing the septum rings. By only changing this one thing in the image, we eliminate other potential variables as best we can and can conduct a proper experiment. We chose two women who look very different from each other, to maximize the universality of the results. Below are the images we used for testing:
Method
We posted one version of each first, waited until we obtained the results, and then posted the second. We hoped to reduce the chances that the same men rated both versions of the same image. We, therefore, waited until all the results were in for one image before posting the next. On Photofeeler, we set the woman’s age to 29 years old. We had 50 men aged 25-34 rate each photo. Photofeeler provides us with a score for “attractiveness,” “smart,” and “trustworthy” and provides a 95% confidence interval range for each score.
Results
Subject A = dark skin
Having a septum ring made no significant difference in perceived attractiveness for subject A
The 95% confidence interval for attractiveness was between 3.9 and 4.7 without the septum ring and between 3.7 and 4.5 with the septum ring. Without the septum ring scored a 4.3, and with the septum ring scored a 4. Both scores are within the confidence intervals of each other.
Having a septum ring made subject A seem significantly dumber.
The 95% confidence interval for “smart” was between 4.7 and 5.7 without the septum ring and between 4.1 and 5.1 with the septum ring. Without the septum ring scored a 5.2, and with the septum ring scored a 4.6. Both scores are outside the confidence intervals of each other.
Having a septum ring made subject A seem significantly less trustworthy.
The 95% confidence interval for “trustworthy” was between 4.8 and 5.9 without the septum ring and between 3.9 and 4.8 with the septum ring. Without the septum ring scored a 5.3, and with the septum ring scored a 4.3. Both scores are outside the confidence intervals of each other.
Subject B = light skin
Having a septum ring made no significant difference in perceived attractiveness for subject B
The 95% confidence interval for attractiveness was between 9.5 and 9.8 without the septum ring and between 9.3 and 9.7 with the septum ring. Without the septum ring scored a 9.7, and with the septum ring scored a 9.6. Both scores are within the confidence intervals of each other.
Having a septum ring made subject B seem significantly dumber.
The 95% confidence interval for “smart” was between 7.4 and 8.8 without the septum ring and between 6.6 and 8.0 with the septum ring. Without the septum ring scored 8.1, and with the septum ring scored 7.2. Both scores are outside the confidence intervals of each other.
Having a septum ring made subject B seem significantly less trustworthy.
The 95% confidence interval for “trustworthy” was between 7.0 and 8.5 without the septum ring and between 5.9 and 7.1 with the septum ring. Without the septum ring scored a 7.8, and with the septum ring scored a 6.4. Both scores are outside the confidence intervals of each other.
Summary & thoughts
Wearing a septum ring won’t affect your perceived attractiveness much, but men will think you look significantly dumber and less trustworthy.
So do guys like septum rings? Do they find them attractive? In our experiments, wearing a septum ring resulted in a 1-3% worse score on attractiveness, but this difference did not reach statistical significance. Using a larger number of test subjects might have revealed that there is also a statistically significant difference in perceived attractiveness. But if that difference exists, it will likely be quite small. Please feel free to replicate our experiments. We encourage scientific debate.
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