The Role of Sexual and Romantic Attraction in Human Mate Preferences.

Sex differences in mate preferences are ubiquitous, having been evidenced across generations and cultures. Their prevalence and persistence have compellingly placed them in the evolutionarily adaptive context of sexual selection. However, the psycho-biological mechanisms contributing to their generation and maintenance remain poorly understood.

The Role of Vision in the Emergence of Mate Preferences.

Cross-cultural research has repeatedly demonstrated sex differences in the importance of partner characteristics when choosing a mate. Men typically report higher preferences for younger, more physically attractive women, while women typically place more importance on a partner's status and wealth. As the assessment of such partner characteristics often relies on visual cues, this raises the question whether visual experience is necessary for sex-specific mate preferences to develop.

Heterogeneity in the Sexual Orientations of Men Who Have Sex with Fa'afafine in Samoa.

In Samoa, feminine natal males who possess male-typical genitalia are known locally as fa'afafine. Some Samoan men express sexual interest in fa'afafine, whereas others do not. To assess the sexual orientation of men who are sexually interested in fa'afafine, we collected sexual attraction ratings and viewing times of Samoan men's and women's faces.

Mate retention Strategies, Self-Esteem, Mate Value and Facial Attractiveness Disparity in Brazil and in the UK.

This study compared mate retention strategies (MRS) in Brazil and in the UK, testing whether culture moderates the association between MRS and self-evaluated variables (e.g. mate value).

No evidence that women using oral contraceptives have weaker preferences for masculine characteristics in men's faces.

Previous research has suggested that women using oral contraceptives show weaker preferences for masculine men than do women not using oral contraceptives. Such research would be consistent with the hypothesis that steroid hormones influence women's preferences for masculine men. Recent large-scale longitudinal studies, however, have found limited evidence linking steroid hormones to masculinity preferences.

Viewing Time and Self-Report Measures of Sexual Attraction in Samoan Cisgender and Transgender Androphilic Males.

Across cultures, androphilic males (natal males who are predominantly sexually attracted to adult men, not women) tend to present in one of two forms: cisgender or transgender. Previous research has shown that, although their gender presentation and identities are distinct, the two forms are similar in many other ways. The present study examined whether cisgender and transgender androphilic males exhibit a similar pattern of self-reported sexual attraction and viewing time response to images of men and women, and one that is directly inverse to that of cisgender gynephilic males (natal males who are predominately sexually attracted to adult women, not men).

Average ovarian hormone levels, rather than daily values and their fluctuations, are related to facial preferences among women.

Hormones are of crucial importance for human behavior. Cyclical changes of ovarian hormones throughout women's menstrual cycle are suggested to underlie fluctuation in masculinity preference for both faces and bodies. In this study we tested this hypothesis based on daily measurements of estradiol and progesterone throughout menstrual cycle, and multiple measurements of women's preference towards masculinity of faces and bodies of men.

No Compelling Evidence that Preferences for Facial Masculinity Track Changes in Women's Hormonal Status.

Although widely cited as strong evidence that sexual selection has shaped human facial-attractiveness judgments, findings suggesting that women's preferences for masculine characteristics in men's faces are related to women's hormonal status are equivocal and controversial. Consequently, we conducted the largest-ever longitudinal study of the hormonal correlates of women's preferences for facial masculinity ( N = 584). Analyses showed no compelling evidence that preferences for facial masculinity were related to changes in women's salivary steroid hormone levels.

Costs of reproduction are reflected in women's faces: Post-menopausal women with fewer children are perceived as more attractive, healthier and younger than women with more children.

Objectives: The costs associated with reproduction (i.e., gestation, lactation, childcare) have long-term negative consequences by elevating risk of disease and reducing lifespan.

Perceived differences in social status between speaker and listener affect the speaker's vocal characteristics.

Non-verbal behaviours, including voice characteristics during speech, are an important way to communicate social status. Research suggests that individuals can obtain high social status through dominance (using force and intimidation) or through prestige (by being knowledgeable and skilful). However, little is known regarding differences in the vocal behaviour of men and women in response to dominant and prestigious individuals.

Evolutionary explanations for financial and prosocial biases: Beyond mating motivation.

Mating motivation likely plays a role in bias to attractive individuals, but there are other complementary theories drawn from the evolutionary literature related to competition, friendship, and leadership selection that also make relevant predictions concerning biases towards attractive individuals. The relative balance of these factors will be context dependent and so help explain why the pattern of bias is sometimes variable.

An evolutionary approach to accuracy in social perception.

An evolutionary approach highlights that accuracy should be expected over error because selection pressures will have shaped social perception to be functional. Behaviour is extremely complex and so it is unlikely that observers will be perfectly accurate, but an evolutionary view strongly predicts that people will behave as rational observers and in many cases social perception should favour adaptive responses.

Are there vocal cues to human developmental stability? Relationships between facial fluctuating asymmetry and voice attractiveness.

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA), deviation from perfect bilateral symmetry, is thought to reflect an organism's relative inability to maintain stable morphological development in the face of environmental and genetic stressors. Previous research has documented negative relationships between FA and attractiveness judgments in humans, but scant research has explored relationships between the human voice and this putative marker of genetic quality in either sex. Only one study (and in women only) has explored relationships between vocal attractiveness and asymmetry of the face, a feature-rich trait space central in prior work on human genetic quality and mate choice.

Sex Differences in the Perceived Dominance and Prestige of Women With and Without Cosmetics.

Women wearing cosmetics have been associated with a higher earning potential and higher status jobs. However, recent literature suggests that status can be accrued through two distinct routes: dominance and prestige. In two experiments, we applied a standardized amount of cosmetics to female faces using computer software.

Vocal fundamental and formant frequencies affect perceptions of speaker cooperativeness.

In recent years, the perception of social traits in faces and voices has received much attention. Facial and vocal masculinity are linked to perceptions of trustworthiness; however, while feminine faces are generally considered to be trustworthy, vocal trustworthiness is associated with masculinized vocal features. Vocal traits such as pitch and formants have previously been associated with perceived social traits such as trustworthiness and dominance, but the link between these measurements and perceptions of cooperativeness have yet to be examined.

The varying value of a friendly face: Experimentally induced stress is associated with higher preferences for friendship with people possessing feminine versus masculine face traits.

Social support can provide a buffer to the negative consequences of stress. Previous research suggests that stress can promote affiliative and cooperative behaviours in those who are stressed. Here we examined how stress might influence who we choose to affiliate with.

Facial attractiveness.

Facial attractiveness has important social consequences. Despite a widespread belief that beauty cannot be defined, in fact, there is considerable agreement across individuals and cultures on what is found attractive. By considering that attraction and mate choice are critical components of evolutionary selection, we can better understand the importance of beauty.

Face adaptation in an isolated population of African hunter-gatherers: Exposure influences perception of other-ethnicity faces more than own-ethnicity faces.

Previous experiments have demonstrated that exposure to faces can change the perception of normality in new faces, such that faces similar to those at exposure appear more normal. Here we examined how experience influences adaptation effects in African Hadza hunter-gatherers, who have limited experience with White faces. We exposed participants to sets of either Hadza or White European faces that were manipulated to possess either wide-spaced or narrow-spaced eyes.

Facial coloration tracks changes in women's estradiol.

Red facial coloration is an important social cue in many primate species, including humans. In such species, the vasodilatory effects of estradiol may cause red facial coloration to change systematically during females' ovarian cycle. Although increased red facial coloration during estrus has been observed in female mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) and rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), evidence linking primate facial color changes directly to changes in measured estradiol is lacking.

Viewing time measures of sexual orientation in Samoan cisgender men who engage in sexual interactions with fa'afafine.

Androphilia refers to attraction to adult males, whereas gynephilia refers to attraction to adult females. The current study employed self-report and viewing time (response time latency) measures of sexual attraction to determine the sexual orientation of Samoan cisgender men (i.e.

Hormonal effects on women's facial masculinity preferences: the influence of pregnancy, post-partum, and hormonal contraceptive use.

Here, we investigate changes in women's facial masculinity preferences across pregnancy and the post-partum period. The majority of previous research demonstrating changes in women's masculinity preferences has examined the impact of hormonal variation across the female menstrual cycle. Hormonal changes experienced during pregnancy and the post-partum period, critical periods in women's reproductive life histories, are considerably more extreme than the variation that occurs across the menstrual cycle, suggesting that differences in preferences may also be displayed during these times.

Observer age and the social transmission of attractiveness in humans: Younger women are more influenced by the choices of popular others than older women.

Being paired with an attractive partner increases perceptual judgements of attractiveness in humans. We tested experimentally for prestige bias, whereby individuals follow the choices of prestigious others. Women rated the attractiveness of photographs of target males which were paired with either popular or less popular model female partners.

Further evidence for links between facial width-to-height ratio and fighting success: Commentary on Zilioli et al. (2014).

Recent research has reported an association between facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) and both fighting performance and judgments of formidability in a sample of mixed martial arts (MMA) combatants. The results provide evidence of fWHR being associated with sporting performance and aggression in men. However, it has been argued that the effect of fWHR might be a by-product of associations between body size and behavioral measures.

Men's strategic preferences for femininity in female faces.

Several evolutionarily relevant sources of individual differences in face preference have been documented for women. Here, we examine three such sources of individual variation in men's preference for female facial femininity: term of relationship, partnership status and self-perceived attractiveness. We show that men prefer more feminine female faces when rating for a short-term relationship and when they have a partner (Study 1).