Effects of sexual dimorphism on facial attractiveness

Abstract

Testosterone-dependent secondary sexual characteristics in males may signal immunological competence and are sexually selected for in several species. In humans, oestrogen-dependent characteristics of the female body correlate with health and reproductive fitness and are found attractive. Enhancing the sexual dimorphism of human faces should raise attractiveness by enhancing sex-hormone-related cues to youth and fertility in females, and to dominance and immunocompetence in males. Here we report the results of asking subjects to choose the most attractive faces from continua that enhanced or diminished differences between the average shape of female and male faces. As predicted, subjects preferred feminized to average shapes of a female face. This preference applied across UK and Japanese populations but was stronger for within-population judgements, which indicates that attractiveness cues are learned. Subjects preferred feminized to average or masculinized shapes of a male face. Enhancing masculine facial characteristics increased both perceived dominance and negative attributions (for example, coldness or dishonesty) relevant to relationships and paternal investment. These results indicate a selection pressure that limits sexual dimorphism and encourages neoteny in humans.

Effects of exogenous testosterone and mating context on men's preferences for female facial femininity

“…Evolutionary psychologists propose that facial femininity may act as a cue to heritable fitness or other benefits, and thus may be seen as attractive to males (Perrett et al, 1998).…”

“…Although feminine women are rated as more attractive, they are also rated as more intrasexually competitive, and more willing to engage in short-term mating relationships (Fink, Klappauf, Brewer, & Shackelford, 2014). Feminine women also become sexually active at an earlier age (Rhodes, Simsmons, & Peters, 2005), show a greater interest in unrestricted relationships (Boothroyd et al, 2008), are rated as having lower parental suitability (Perrett et al, 1998), and are perceived as more likely to seek extra pair copulations (i.e., cheat on a partner) or be promiscuous (Brewer & Archer, 2007;Little et al, 2014). Therefore, it is not surprising that some men-typically those who perceive themselves as being attractive-prefer femininity in short-term, but not as much in the long-term relationships (Burriss, Welling, & Puts, 2011;Little, Connely, Feinberg, Jones, & Roberts, 2011;Little et al, 2014), as it may increase the likelihood of successfully reproducing with a healthy partner, while minimizing the potential for partner defection in a long-term relationship.…”

Perceptions of Human Attractiveness Comprising Face and Voice Cues

“…Furthermore, females have been shown to prefer more masculine faces (Keating, 1985;Penton-Voak et al, 2001;Scheib, Gangestad, & Thornhill, 1999; although see Perrett et al, 1998;Penton-Voak, Jacobson, & Trivers, 2004).…”

“…In contrast, attractive female faces are positively related to high estrogen (Law-Smith et al, 2006) and feminine faces are more attractive to males (Feinberg et al, 2005;Johnston et al, 2001;Jones et al, 2007;Law-Smith et al, 2006;Perrett et al, 1998). A relationship also exists between estrogen and female voice pitch (Abitbol, Abitbol, & Abitbol, 1999).…”

Relative digit lengths predict men’s behavior and attractiveness during social interactions with women

“…This is not only because 2D:4D might be associated with behavioral or non-facial physical components of attractiveness, but also because various traits in combination might affect attractiveness differently from the effects of the traits considered in isolation. For example, the finding that women do not rate male faces with markers of high testosterone as the most attractive (e.g., Penton-Voak et al 1999;Rhodes et al 2003;Swaddle and Reierson 2002) may be due to the attribution of antisocial traits to such faces when they are rated in the absence of additional information (Perrett et al 1998). Men with more masculine and dominant faces might in fact be rated the most attractive when their social behavior is nonthreatening.…”