The Evolution of Human Physical Attractiveness

Gangestad, Steven W.; Scheyd, Glenn J.

doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143733

Cited by 315 publications

(237 citation statements)

References 146 publications

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“…This view contrasts with evidence from non-human species that an organism's attractiveness as a mate is linked to traits that help solve adaptive challenges related to survival and reproduction (Norris, 1993;Petrie, 1994;Birkhead & Fletcher, 1995;Stacey, Eileen, Rebecca, & Kevin, 2011). We report independent studies testing the overarching proposal that human standards of attractiveness reflect the output of evolved psychological mechanisms designed to detect fitness-relevant traits (Symons, 1995;Thornhill & Gangestad, 1999;Gangestad & Scheyd, 2005;Sugiyama, 2005;Singh & Singh, 2011). Specifically, we tested novel hypotheses based on an adaptive challenge uniquely faced by ancestral hominin females: a bipedal fetal load.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Lumbar curvature: a previously undiscovered standard of attractiveness

Lewis

Russell

Al-Shawaf

et al. 2015

Evolution and Human Behavior

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This paper reports independent studies supporting the proposal that human standards of attractiveness reflect the output of psychological adaptations to detect fitness-relevant traits. We tested novel a priori hypotheses based on an adaptive problem uniquely faced by ancestral hominin females: a forward-shifted center of mass during pregnancy. The hominin female spine possesses evolved morphology to deal with this adaptive challenge: wedging in the third-to-last lumbar vertebra. Among ancestral women, vertebral wedging would have minimized the net fitness threats posed by hypolordosis and hyperlordosis, thereby creating selective pressures on men to prefer such women as mates. On this basis, we hypothesized that men possess evolved mate preferences for women with this theoretically optimal angle of lumbar curvature. In Study 1, as hypothesized, men's attraction toward women increased as women's lumbar curvature approached this angle. However, vertebral wedging and buttock mass can both influence lumbar curvature. Study 2 thus employed a forced-choice paradigm in which men selected the most attractive woman among models exhibiting the same lumbar curvature, but for different morphological reasons. Men again tended to prefer women exhibiting cues to a degree of vertebral wedging closer to optimum. This included preferring women whose lumbar curvature specifically reflected vertebral wedging rather than buttock mass. These findings reveal novel, theoretically anchored, and previously undiscovered standards of attractiveness.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Lumbar curvature: a previously undiscovered standard of attractiveness

Lewis

Russell

Al-Shawaf

et al. 2015

Evolution and Human Behavior

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“…Evidence indicates that humans prefer opposite sex faces that align with sex-typicality (i.e., men prefer feminine faces; women prefer masculine faces) for sexual relationships, where such preferences are thought to represent an adaptive strategy for securing mates with greater immunocompetence or fertility advantages (Gangestad & Scheyd, 2005;Lee et al, 2013;Little et al, 2007;Little et al, 2008;O'Connor et al, 2013;Wheatley et al, 2014). Other evidence suggests that facial preferences may also vary as a function of the perceiver's circulating hormone levels, perhaps helping to facilitate mating goals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Bird

Welling

Ortiz

et al. 2016

Hormones and Behavior

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Correlational research suggests that men show greater attraction to feminine female faces when their testosterone (T) levels are high. Men's preferences for feminine faces also seem to vary as a function of relationship context (short versus long-term).However, the relationship between T and preferences for female facial femininity has yet to be tested experimentally. This thesis examined the causal role of T in modulating preferences for facial femininity across both short and long-term mating contexts, using two separate experiments. Results of Experiment 1 (within-subject design, n = 24)showed that participants significantly preferred feminized versus masculinized versions of women's faces. Further, participants showed a stronger preference for feminine female faces in the short-versus the long-term context after they received T, but not after they received placebo. Post-hoc analyses suggest that this effect was driven by a lower preference for feminine faces in the long-term context when on T relative to placebo.Results from Experiment 2 (between-subject design, n = 93) were highly consistent with those of Experiment 1: men demonstrated a significant preference for feminized female faces in the short-versus the long-term context after T, but not after placebo administration, and this effect was driven by lower preferences for feminine faces in the long-term context when on T relative to placebo. Collectively, these findings provide the first causal evidence that T modulates men's preferences for facial femininity as a function of mating context.

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“…Many different physical human traits are associated with higher attractiveness judgments and mate preferences (for reviews, see Gangestad & Scheyd, 2005;Grammer, Fink, Moller, & Thornhill, 2003;Rhodes, 2006;Roberts & Little, 2008). Judgements of facial attractiveness have received most intense attention in view of the face's role in human social interactions Rhodes, 2006;Roberts, Little et al, 2005;Thornhill & Gangestad, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body Odor Quality Predicts Behavioral Attractiveness in Humans

et al. 2011

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Growing effort is being made to understand how different attractive physical traits covary within individuals, partly because this might indicate an underlying index of genetic quality. In humans, attention has focussed on potential markers of quality such as facial attractiveness, axillary odor quality, the second-to-fourth digit (2D:4D) ratio and body-mass index (BMI). Here we extend this approach to include visually-assessed kinesic cues (nonverbal behavior linked to movement) which are statistically independent of structural physical traits. The utility of such kinesic cues in mate assessment is controversial, particularly during every day conversational contexts, as they could be unreliable and susceptible to deception. However, we show here that the attractiveness of nonverbal behavior, in 20 male participants, is predicted by perceived quality of their axillary body odor. This finding indicates covariation between two desirable traits in different sensory modalities. Depending on two different rating contexts (either a simple attractiveness rating, or a rating for long-term partners, by 10 female raters not using hormonal contraception), we also found significant relationships between perceived attractiveness of nonverbal behavior and BMI, and between axillary odor ratings and 2D:4D ratio. Axillary odor pleasantness was the single attribute that consistently predicted attractiveness of nonverbal behavior. Our results demonstrate that nonverbal kinesic cues could reliably reveal mate quality, at least in males, and could corroborate and contribute to mate assessment based on other physical traits.

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The Evolution of Human Physical Attractiveness

Cited by 315 publications

References 146 publications

Lumbar curvature: a previously undiscovered standard of attractiveness

Lumbar curvature: a previously undiscovered standard of attractiveness

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

Body Odor Quality Predicts Behavioral Attractiveness in Humans

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