Article
Details
Citation
Docherty C, Lee AJ, Hahn AC, DeBruine LM & Jones BC (2020) Do more attractive women show stronger preferences for male facial masculinity?. Evolution and Human Behavior, 41 (4), pp. 312-317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2020.05.005
Abstract
Researchers have suggested that more attractive women will show stronger preferences for masculine men because such women are better placed to offset the potential costs of choosing a masculine mate. However, evidence for correlations between measures of women¡¯s own attractiveness and preferences for masculine men is mixed. Moreover, the samples used to test this hypothesis are typically relatively small. Consequently, we conducted two large-scale studies that investigated possible associations between women¡¯s preferences for facial masculinity and their own attractiveness as assessed from third-party ratings of their facial attractiveness (Study 1, N = 454, laboratory study) and self-rated attractiveness (Study 2, N = 8972, online study). Own attractiveness was positively correlated with preferences for masculine men in Study 2 (self-rated attractiveness), but not Study 1 (third-party ratings of facial attractiveness). This pattern of results is consistent with the proposal that women¡¯s beliefs about their own attractiveness, rather than their physical condition per se, underpins attractiveness-contingent masculinity preferences.
Keywords
Attractiveness; Condition; Mate preferences; Masculinity; Faces
Journal
Evolution and Human Behavior: Volume 41, Issue 4
Status | Published |
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Funders | |
Publication date | 31/07/2020 |
Publication date online | 20/05/2020 |
Date accepted by journal | 14/05/2020 |
URL | |
Publisher | Elsevier BV |
ISSN | 1090-5138 |
People (1)
Lecturer in Psychology, Psychology