The Role of Facial and Body Hair Distribution in Women’s Judgments of Men’s Sexual Attractiveness

Abstract

Facial and body hair are some of the most visually conspicuous and sexually dimorphic of all men's secondary sexual traits. Both are androgen dependent, requiring the conversion of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone via the enzyme 5α reductase 2 for their expression. While previous studies on the attractiveness of facial and body hair are equivocal, none have accounted as to how natural variation in their distribution may influence male sexual attractiveness. In the present study, we quantified men's facial and body hair distribution as either very light, light, medium, or heavy using natural photographs. We also tested whether women's fertility influenced their preferences for beards and body hair by comparing preferences among heterosexual women grouped according their fertility (high fertility, low fertility, and contraceptive use). Results showed that men with more evenly and continuously distributed facial hair from the lower jaw connecting to the mustache and covering the cheeks were judged as more sexually attractive than individuals with more patchy facial hair. Men with body hair were less attractive than when clean shaven, with the exception of images depicting some hair around the areolae, pectoral region, and the sternum that were significantly more attractive than clean-shaven bodies. However, there was no effect of fertility on women's preferences for men's beard or body hair distribution. These results suggest that the distribution of facial and body hair influences male attractiveness to women, possibly as an indication of masculine development and the synthesis of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone via 5α reductase.

The masculinity paradox: facial masculinity and beardedness interact to determine women's ratings of men's facial attractiveness

“…However, preferences for facial hair follow the opposite pattern, becoming greater when considering long‐term than short‐term relationships (Neave & Shields, ; Dixson & Brooks, ). Men's facial hair is judged as most attractive when at intermediate levels between a clean‐shaven appearance and full beardedness (Neave & Shields, ; Dixson & Brooks, ; Dixson et al ., ; Janif et al ., ; Saxton et al ., ; Dixson & Rantala, ), which coincides with the intermediate ratings of masculinity and dominance between the lowest ascribed to clean‐shaven faces and the highest ascribed to full beardedness (Neave & Shields, ; Dixson & Brooks, ). Thus, there may be a threshold of facial hair density and facial masculinity at which beards operate as an attractive trait (Neave & Shields, ; Dixson & Brooks, ).…”

“…Prior to providing ratings, participants were given a written instruction taken from previous studies guiding them in how to apply the six‐point Likert scales (0 = very low–10 = very high) for the rating condition to which they were assigned. The ‘attractiveness’ condition asked participants to look at each face and rate it for sexual attractiveness using the scale immediately below (Dixson & Rantala, ). The ‘short‐term attractiveness’ condition asked participants to rate the men when imagining the type of person who would be attractive in a short‐term relationship.…”

“…It is possible that women's preferences for facial masculinity are higher when considering short‐term mates as facially masculine men are costly as long‐term mates but may provide indirect benefits to offspring fitness, particularly under ecological conditions where survivability is compromised (DeBruine et al ., ). However, there is little evidence that beardedness reflects underlying genetic quality in the same manner as masculine craniofacial shape (Dixson & Rantala, ). Instead, beards have consistently been shown to enhance men's apparent age, masculinity, social dominance and aggressiveness intrasexually (Roll & Verinis, ; Kenny & Fletcher, ; Pancer & Meindl, ; Wood, ; Addison, ; Reed & Blunk, ; Wogalter & Hosie, ; Neave & Shields, ; Dixson & Vasey, ).…”

Large-Scale Beard Extraction Enhances the Cosmetic Results of Scalp Hair Restoration in Advanced Androgenetic Alopecia in East Asian Men: A Retrospective Study

“…In some cultures, the presence of a beard enhances the perception of masculinity in men [19]. In some regions, such as Saudi Arabia [20], most adult males have a mustache and would prefer it to as thick as possible [21].…”

Beard transplants and facial hair trends: why men are motivated to have surgery

“…However, these studies didn't tap into features amenable to facial hair surgery: uniformity and coverage. The most recent and large-scale study on the subject did address this question, and found that in a group of 3,805 women, men with more evenly and continuously distributed facial hair were rated as more sexually attractive than men with patchier facial hair (Dixson & Rantala, 2016).…”