To be, or Not to be? Attributions of Mere Existence Heighten the Attractiveness and Pleasantness of Human Faces

We manipulated beliefs about whether face images portrayed existing people (real-life), non-existing people (algorithm-imagined), or blended people (a mix of real-life and imagined characteristics). Participants (n = 84) judged faces of existing people as more attractive, meaningful, pleasant, and less unpleasant, compared to matched faces of non-existing and blended people.