Testosterone responses to competition in men are related to facial masculinity

Pound, Nicholas; Penton-Voak, Ian S.; Surridge, Alison K.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2008.0990

Cited by 176 publications

(156 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Like others, we find that sex differences in face structure explain only 11% of perceived masculinity (6-11% in Koehler et al, 2004;Komori et al, 2011;Pound et al, 2009). Since morphological masculinity predicted gender in our sample correctly for 92.5% of faces, we suggest that the weak relationship between morphological and perceived masculinity cannot be explained by an inadequate structural estimation of sexual dimorphism.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Men's Facial Masculinity: When (Body) Size Matters

et al. 2014

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Recent studies suggest that judgments of facial masculinity reflect more than sexually dimorphic shape. Here, we investigated whether the perception of masculinity is influenced by facial cues to body height and weight. We used the average differences in 3D face shape of 40 men and 40 women to compute a morphological masculinity score, and derived analogous measures for facial correlates of height and weight based on the average face shape of short and tall, and light and heavy men. We found that facial cues to body height and weight had substantial and independent effects on the perception of masculinity. Our findings suggest that men are perceived as more masculine if they appear taller and heavier, independent of how much their face shape differs from women's. We describe a simple method to quantify how body traits are reflected in the face and to define the physical basis of psychological attributions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Men's Facial Masculinity: When (Body) Size Matters

et al. 2014

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“…These measures included others' ratings of facial dominance and of facial attractiveness; both of these variables positively predict ability to compete for resources in modern organisations (Fruhen, Watkins, & Jones, 2015), and the former is a positive predictor of male strength (Toscano, Schubert, & Sell, 2014). Facial variables also included objectively-measured facial shape masculinity (Penton-Voak et al, 2001), which, like muscularity, is believed to increase with developmental testosterone exposure and is correlated with circulating testosterone levels in adult males exposed to competitive stimuli (Pound, Penton-Voak, & Surridge, 2009). Moreover, we included facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR), a variable which has recently been shown to be associated with a range of related behavioural traits in males (for a review see Hodges-Simeon, Hanson Sobraske, Samore, Gurven, & Gaulin, 2016).…”

Section: The Current Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Is sociopolitical egalitarianism related to bodily and facial formidability in men?

Price

Sheehy‐Skeffington

Sidnaius

et al. 2017

Evolution and Human Behavior

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Social bargaining models predict that men should calibrate their egalitarian attitudes to their formidability and/or attractiveness. A simple social bargaining model predicts a direct negative association between formidability/attractiveness and egalitarianism, whereas a more complex model predicts an association moderated by wealth. Our study tested both models with 171 men, using two sociopolitical egalitarianism measures: social dominance orientation and support for redistribution. Predictors included bodily formidability and attractiveness and four facial measures (attractiveness, dominance, masculinity, and width-to-height ratio). We also controlled for time spent lifting weights, and experimentally manipulated self-perceived formidability in an attempt to influence egalitarianism. Both the simple and complex social bargaining models received partial support: sociopolitical egalitarianism was negatively related to bodily formidability, but unrelated to other measures of bodily/facial formidability/attractiveness; and a formidability-wealth interaction did predict variance in support for redistribution, but the nature of this interaction differed somewhat from that reported in previous research. Results of the experimental manipulation suggested that egalitarianism is unaffected by self-perceived formidability in the immediate short-term. In sum, results provided some support for both the simple and complex social bargaining models, but suggested that further research is needed to explain why male formidability/attractiveness and egalitarianism are so often negatively related.

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“…There is some evidence that facial masculinity is associated with levels of circulating testosterone in men (Pound et al, 2009). However, some studies have found that women prefer more feminine male faces (Perrett et al, 1998) or found no preference for masculinity (Rhodes et al, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross-cultural effects of color, but not morphological masculinity, on perceived attractiveness of men's faces

Stephen¹,

Scott²,

Coetzee³

et al. 2012

Evolution and Human Behavior

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139

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Cross-cultural effects of color, but not morphological masculinity, on perceived attractiveness of men's faces SummaryMuch attractiveness research has focused on face shape. The role of masculinity (which for adults is thought to be a relatively stable shape cue to developmental testosterone levels) in male facial attractiveness has been examined, with mixed results. Recent work on the perception of skin color (a more variable cue to current health status) indicates that increased skin redness, yellowness and lightness enhance apparent health. It has been suggested that stable cues such as masculinity may be less important to attractiveness judgments than short-term, more variable health cues. We examine associations between male facial attractiveness, masculinity and skin color in African and Caucasian populations. Masculinity was not found to be associated with attractiveness in either ethnic group. However, skin color was found to be an important predictor of attractiveness judgments, particularly for own-ethnicity faces. Our results suggest that more plastic health cues, such as skin color, are more important than developmental cues such as masculinity. Further, unfamiliarity with natural skin color variation in other ethnic groups may limit observers' ability to utilize these color cues.

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Testosterone responses to competition in men are related to facial masculinity

Cited by 176 publications

References 57 publications

Men's Facial Masculinity: When (Body) Size Matters

Men's Facial Masculinity: When (Body) Size Matters

Is sociopolitical egalitarianism related to bodily and facial formidability in men?

Cross-cultural effects of color, but not morphological masculinity, on perceived attractiveness of men's faces

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