Men's Preferences for Women's Femininity in Dynamic Cross-Modal Stimuli

Men generally prefer feminine women''s faces and voices over masculine women''s faces and voices, and these cross-modal preferences are positively correlated. Men''s preferences for female facial and vocal femininity have typically been investigated independently by presenting soundless still images separately from audio-only vocal recordings. For the first time ever, we presented men with short video clips in which dynamic faces and voices were simultaneously manipulated in femininity/masculinity. Men preferred feminine men''s faces over masculine men''s faces, and preferred masculine men''s voices over feminine men''s voices. We found that men preferred feminine women''s faces and voices over masculine women''s faces and voices. Men''s attractiveness ratings of both feminine and masculine faces were increased by the addition of vocal femininity. Also, men''s attractiveness ratings of feminine and masculine voices were increased by the addition of facial femininity present in the video. Men''s preferences for vocal and facial femininity were significantly and positively correlated when stimuli were female, but not when they were male. Our findings complement other evidence for cross-modal femininity preferences among male raters, and show that preferences observed in studies using still images and/or independently presented vocal stimuli are also observed when dynamic faces and voices are displayed simultaneously in video format.     

Facial shape provides a valid cue to sociosexuality in men but not women

Existing work suggests that observers' perceptions of sociosexuality from strangers' faces are positively associated with individuals' self-reported sociosexuality. However it is not clear what cues observers use to form these judgements. Over two studies we examined whether sociosexuality is reflected in faces, which cues contain information about sociosexuality, and whether observers' perceptions of sociosexuality from faces are positively associated with individuals' self-reported sociosexuality. In Study One, Geometric Morphometric Modelling (GMM) analysis of 103 Caucasian participants revealed that self-reported sociosexuality was predicted by facial morphology in male but not female faces. In Study Two, 65 Caucasian participants judged the sociosexuality of opposite sex faces (faces from Study One) at zero acquaintance. Perceived sociosexuality predicted self-reported sociosexuality for men, but not women. Participants were also presented with composites of faces of individuals with more unrestricted sociosexuality paired with composites of faces of individuals with more restricted sociosexuality and asked to indicate which was more unrestricted. Participants selected the more unrestricted sociosexuality male, but not female, facial composites at rates significantly above chance. GMM analyses also found that facial morphology statistically significantly predicted perceived sociosexuality in women's and, to a greater extent, in men's faces. Finally, facial shape mediated the relationship between perceived sociosexuality and self-reported sociosexuality in men's but not women's faces. Our results suggest that facial shape acts as a valid cue to sociosexuality in men's but not women's faces.     

Beneath the beard: do facial morphometrics influence the strength of judgments of men's beardedness?

Converging evidence suggests men's beards, like many androgen-dependent masculine secondary sexual traits, communicate masculinity and dominance intra-sexually while effects of men's beardedness on attractiveness ratings are more equivocal. Beards may enhance perceived masculinity and dominance via amplifying aspects of underlying craniofacial masculinity, particularly the size of the lower face and jaw. Here we tested these predictions across two studies. In study 1, we tested how three facial metrics - objectively measured craniofacial masculinity, facial-width-to-height ratio (fWHR), and jaw size - calculated while clean-shaven impacted on ratings of attractiveness, masculinity and dominance of 37 men photographed when clean-shaven and with full beards. Results showed that beards exerted significant and positive effects on masculinity, dominance and to a lesser extent attractiveness. However, fWHR did not significantly interact with beardedness to influence the directions of any of the ratings, and while some linear and nonlinear interactions were significant between objective craniofacial masculinity and beardedness as well as between jaw size and beardedness, they tended to be subtle and dwarfed by the large main effect of beardedness on perceptual ratings. In study 2, we measured ratings of attractiveness, masculinity and dominance for composite clean-shaven and bearded stimuli experimentally manipulated in facial shape to represent ±50% the shape of a beard, essentially manipulating the size of the lower face and jaw of the stimuli. We found a strong main effect whereby bearded stimuli enhanced dominance and masculinity ratings over clean-shaven stimuli. Increasing the size of the lower face and jaw augmented ratings of masculinity and dominance in clean-shaven stimuli but did not exert strong effects within bearded stimuli. Attractiveness ratings were highest for bearded faces with smaller jaws followed by bearded and clean-shaven faces with larger jaws and lowest for clean-shaven faces with small jaws. Taken together, our findings suggest that beards exert main effects on masculinity and dominance possibly by amplifying male typical facial shape. Attractiveness ratings of facial hair may reflect a compromise between overly dominant looking faces with larger jaws and the additive effects beardedness has on these ratings.     

Disrupting ‘a man's world’: gender,technology, and class in Vietnam's global heavy industry

Only rarely is Vietnam's global heavy industry studied from an anthropological perspective in either its gender or its class dimensions. This article contributes new insights into the ways in which the interagential dynamics of gender and technology from shopfloor to engineer offices coproduce social orders in contesting and perpetuating essentializing notions of femininity and masculinity. Blue-collar and white-collar women working in heavy industrial workplaces represent a minority in ‘a man's world’, ambiguously both disidentifying and identifying with notions of a typical ‘female character’ vis-à-vis ‘male character’. Women working in heavy industry, the article shows, generate ‘disruption’ by reconfiguring conventions regarding gendered occupation, redefining gendered engagement with technology, and recalibrating images of femininity and masculinity. Doing so means carving out new opportunities and/or provoking crisis in a patrilineal universe. The article analyses the intricate ways in which women's engagement with technology is empowering while simultaneously reinforcing gender- and class-specific inequalities in socialist Vietnam's global market economy.     

Does Masculinity Matter? The Contribution of Masculine Face Shape to Male Attractiveness in Humans

Background

In many animals, exaggerated sex-typical male traits are preferred by females, and may be a signal of both past and current disease resistance. The proposal that the same is true in humans – i.e., that masculine men are immunocompetent and attractive – underpins a large literature on facial masculinity preferences. Recently, theoretical models have suggested that current condition may be a better index of mate value than past immunocompetence. This is particularly likely in populations where pathogenic fluctuation is fast relative to host life history. As life history is slow in humans, there is reason to expect that, among humans, condition-dependent traits might contribute more to attractiveness than relatively stable traits such as masculinity. To date, however, there has been little rigorous assessment of whether, in the presence of variation in other cues, masculinity predicts attractiveness or not.

Methodology/Principal Findings

The relationship between masculinity and attractiveness was assessed in two samples of male faces. Most previous research has assessed masculinity either with subjective ratings or with simple anatomical measures. Here, we used geometric morphometric techniques to assess facial masculinity, generating a morphological masculinity measure based on a discriminant function that correctly classified >96% faces as male or female. When assessed using this measure, there was no relationship between morphological masculinity and rated attractiveness. In contrast, skin colour – a fluctuating, condition-dependent cue – was a significant predictor of attractiveness.

Conclusions/Significance

These findings suggest that facial morphological masculinity may contribute less to men''s attractiveness than previously assumed. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that current condition is more relevant to male mate value than past disease resistance, and hence that temporally fluctuating traits (such as colour) contribute more to male attractiveness than stable cues of sexual dimorphism.     

The relationship between sexual dimorphism in human faces and fluctuating asymmetry

Previous studies have found both support and lack of support for a positive relationship between masculinity and symmetry, two putative signs of mate quality, in male faces. We re-examined this relationship using an explicit measure of facial fluctuating asymmetry, as well as other measures of asymmetry, and measures of facial masculinity/femininity. We also used ratings of these traits for faces. Further, we examined the relationship between facial sexual dimorphism and body asymmetry. We found no significant correlations between facial masculinity and any of our measures of asymmetry or ratings of symmetry in males. Facial femininity was not consistently associated with facial symmetry in females, but was associated with body symmetry. Therefore, for females, but not males, facial femininity and body symmetry may reflect similar aspects of mate quality. We also examined the relationships between trait ratings and measurements. Our results provide validation of our ability to measure aspects of asymmetry that are perceived to be symmetrical, and aspects of sexual dimorphism that are perceived as feminine in females and masculine in males.     

Facial correlates of sociosexuality

Previous studies have documented variation in sexual behaviour between individuals leading to the notion of ‘restricted’ individuals (i.e., people who prefer long-term relationships) and ‘unrestricted’ individuals (i.e., people who are open to short-term relationships). This distinction is often referred to as sociosexual orientation. Observers have been previously found to distinguish sociosexuality from video footage of individuals, although the specific cues used have not been identified. Here we assessed the ability of observers to judge sexual strategy based specifically on cues in both facial composites and real faces. We also assessed how observers' perceptions of the masculinity/femininity and attractiveness of faces relate to the sociosexual orientation of the pictured individuals. Observers were generally able to identify restricted vs. unrestricted individuals from cues in both composites and real faces. Unrestricted sociosexuality was generally associated with greater attractiveness in female composites and real female faces and greater masculinity in male composites. Although male observers did not generally associate sociosexuality with male attractiveness, female observers generally preferred more restricted males' faces (i.e., those with relatively strong preferences for long-term relationships). Collectively, our results support previous findings that androgenisation in men is related to less restricted sexual behaviour and suggest that women are averse to unrestricted men.     

Populational differences in attractiveness judgements of male and female faces: Comparing British and Jamaican samples

In the UK and Japan, both men and women prefer somewhat feminised opposite-sex faces, especially when choosing a long-term partner. Such faces are perceived as more honest, caring, and sensitive; traits that may be associated with successful male parental investment. By contrast, women prefer less feminised faces for short-term relationships and when they are near ovulation. As genetic quality may be associated with facial masculinity, women may ‘trade-off’ cues between genetic quality and paternal investment in potential partners. No analogous trade-off has been suggested to influence men's preferences, as both attributions of prosociality and potential cues to biological quality are associated with facial femininity in female faces. Ecological and cultural factors may influence the balance of trade-offs leading to populational differences in preferences. We predicted that Jamaican women would prefer more masculine faces than British women do because parasite load is higher in Jamaica, medical care less common (historically and currently), and male parental investment less pronounced. Male preferences, however, were predicted to vary less cross-culturally, as no trade-off has been identified in female facial characteristics. We constructed masculinised and feminised digital male and female face stimuli of three populations (Jamaican, Japanese, and British) and presented them to men and women in Jamaica and in Britain. The results demonstrated that Jamaican women preferred more masculine male faces than their British counterparts did. Jamaican men tended to prefer more masculine female faces than did British men did, but this effect was complicated by an interaction suggesting that more feminised faces were preferred within culture.     

Manipulating Shape Cues in Dynamic Human Faces: Sexual Dimorphism is Preferred in Female but not Male Faces

Sexual dimorphism in the human face has been linked to attractiveness, and computer‐graphic techniques have been useful in this field by allowing experimental manipulation of dimorphism. However, a limitation of much research is its reliance on static pictorial stimuli, whereas real faces are dynamic, as is much courtship behaviour throughout nature. Furthermore, little is known about possible interactions between static and dynamic facial cues and attractiveness. We adapted well‐established face‐morphing technology to manipulate sexual dimorphism in male and female dynamic facial displays depicting prosocial and antisocial behaviour. Masculinised and feminised versions of these videos were presented as a two‐alternative forced choice task to measure preferences. Feminised female videos were preferred in both movement contexts, as expected. More surprisingly, no directional preference for masculinity or femininity was evident for the male videos in either context. Further analysis showed that the movement of the faces (prosocial vs. antisocial) had no effect on attractiveness ratings. Results were the same with static stimuli and did not conflict with findings from the wider literature using static faces. These findings suggest that the new technique we describe is a valid way to manipulate facial shape in videos and can now be widely applied to future studies of facial morphing.     

Cross-Cultural Agreement in Facial Attractiveness Preferences: The Role of Ethnicity and Gender

Previous work showed high agreement in facial attractiveness preferences within and across cultures. The aims of the current study were twofold. First, we tested cross-cultural agreement in the attractiveness judgements of White Scottish and Black South African students for own- and other-ethnicity faces. Results showed significant agreement between White Scottish and Black South African observers'' attractiveness judgements, providing further evidence of strong cross-cultural agreement in facial attractiveness preferences. Second, we tested whether cross-cultural agreement is influenced by the ethnicity and/or the gender of the target group. White Scottish and Black South African observers showed significantly higher agreement for Scottish than for African faces, presumably because both groups are familiar with White European facial features, but the Scottish group are less familiar with Black African facial features. Further work investigating this discordance in cross-cultural attractiveness preferences for African faces show that Black South African observers rely more heavily on colour cues when judging African female faces for attractiveness, while White Scottish observers rely more heavily on shape cues. Results also show higher cross-cultural agreement for female, compared to male faces, albeit not significantly higher. The findings shed new light on the factors that influence cross-cultural agreement in attractiveness preferences.     

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

In many species, male secondary sexual traits have evolved via female choice as they confer indirect (i.e. genetic) benefits or direct benefits such as enhanced fertility or survival. In humans, the role of men's characteristically masculine androgen‐dependent facial traits in determining men's attractiveness has presented an enduring paradox in studies of human mate preferences. Male‐typical facial features such as a pronounced brow ridge and a more robust jawline may signal underlying health, whereas beards may signal men's age and masculine social dominance. However, masculine faces are judged as more attractive for short‐term relationships over less masculine faces, whereas beards are judged as more attractive than clean‐shaven faces for long‐term relationships. Why such divergent effects occur between preferences for two sexually dimorphic traits remains unresolved. In this study, we used computer graphic manipulation to morph male faces varying in facial hair from clean‐shaven, light stubble, heavy stubble and full beards to appear more (+25% and +50%) or less (?25% and ?50%) masculine. Women (N = 8520) were assigned to treatments wherein they rated these stimuli for physical attractiveness in general, for a short‐term liaison or a long‐term relationship. Results showed a significant interaction between beardedness and masculinity on attractiveness ratings. Masculinized and, to an even greater extent, feminized faces were less attractive than unmanipulated faces when all were clean‐shaven, and stubble and beards dampened the polarizing effects of extreme masculinity and femininity. Relationship context also had effects on ratings, with facial hair enhancing long‐term, and not short‐term, attractiveness. Effects of facial masculinization appear to have been due to small differences in the relative attractiveness of each masculinity level under the three treatment conditions and not to any change in the order of their attractiveness. Our findings suggest that beardedness may be attractive when judging long‐term relationships as a signal of intrasexual formidability and the potential to provide direct benefits to females. More generally, our results hint at a divergence of signalling function, which may result in a subtle trade‐off in women's preferences, for two highly sexually dimorphic androgen‐dependent facial traits.     

Sequential Effects in Judgements of Attractiveness: The Influences of Face Race and Sex

In perceptual decision-making, a person’s response on a given trial is influenced by their response on the immediately preceding trial. This sequential effect was initially demonstrated in psychophysical tasks, but has now been found in more complex, real-world judgements. The similarity of the current and previous stimuli determines the nature of the effect, with more similar items producing assimilation in judgements, while less similarity can cause a contrast effect. Previous research found assimilation in ratings of facial attractiveness, and here, we investigated whether this effect is influenced by the social categories of the faces presented. Over three experiments, participants rated the attractiveness of own- (White) and other-race (Chinese) faces of both sexes that appeared successively. Through blocking trials by race (Experiment 1), sex (Experiment 2), or both dimensions (Experiment 3), we could examine how sequential judgements were altered by the salience of different social categories in face sequences. For sequences that varied in sex alone, own-race faces showed significantly less opposite-sex assimilation (male and female faces perceived as dissimilar), while other-race faces showed equal assimilation for opposite- and same-sex sequences (male and female faces were not differentiated). For sequences that varied in race alone, categorisation by race resulted in no opposite-race assimilation for either sex of face (White and Chinese faces perceived as dissimilar). For sequences that varied in both race and sex, same-category assimilation was significantly greater than opposite-category. Our results suggest that the race of a face represents a superordinate category relative to sex. These findings demonstrate the importance of social categories when considering sequential judgements of faces, and also highlight a novel approach for investigating how multiple social dimensions interact during decision-making.     

Cross-cultural variation in men's preference for sexual dimorphism in women's faces

Both attractiveness judgements and mate preferences vary considerably cross-culturally. We investigated whether men''s preference for femininity in women''s faces varies between 28 countries with diverse health conditions by analysing responses of 1972 heterosexual participants. Although men in all countries preferred feminized over masculinized female faces, we found substantial differences between countries in the magnitude of men''s preferences. Using an average femininity preference for each country, we found men''s facial femininity preferences correlated positively with the health of the nation, which explained 50.4% of the variation among countries. The weakest preferences for femininity were found in Nepal and strongest in Japan. As high femininity in women is associated with lower success in competition for resources and lower dominance, it is possible that in harsher environments, men prefer cues to resource holding potential over high fecundity.     

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

Much 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 examined 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.     

Individual differences in women''s facial preferences as a function of digit ratio and mental rotation ability

The second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) and mental rotation (MR) ability are sexually dimorphic traits that appear early in development and have been correlated with exposure to prenatal androgens (Grimshaw, Sitarenios, & Finegan, 1995; Lutchmaya, Baron-Cohen, Raggatt, Knickmeyer, & Manning, 2004). The current study examined how 2D:4D and MR differences among women of European descent (N=41) were related to their (a) preferences for male faces: attractive (ATM), short-term (STM), and long-term mate (LTM), and (b) psychological femininity and masculinity, as measured by the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) (Bem, 1981). To examine potential changes in facial preferences over their menstrual cycle, participants' preferences were measured during two experimental sessions separated by 2 weeks. The results indicated that (a) femininity scores decreased with decreasing 2D:4D, (b) masculinity scores increased with faster MR, (c) women preferred a more masculine male face for an STM than for an LTM, and (d) preference changes over the menstrual cycle varied systematically with 2D:4D. When compared with women with high 2D:4D ratios, low 2D:4D women (e) preferred a more masculine LTM, (f) recalled less parental bonding, (g) had shorter intimate relationships, and (h) reported more menstrual irregularity. The results are interpreted as support for an interactive hormonal theory of physical attraction.     

Immune function during early adolescence positively predicts adult facial sexual dimorphism in both men and women

Evolutionary theories suggest that humans prefer sexual dimorphism in faces because masculinity in men and femininity in women may be an indicator of immune function during development. In particular, the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis proposes that sexual dimorphism indicates good immune function during development because the sex hormones, particularly testosterone in men, required for the development of sexually dimorphic facial features also taxes the immune system. Therefore, only healthy males can afford the high level of testosterone for the development of sexually dimorphic traits without compromising their survival. Researchers have suggested that a similar mechanism via the effects of oestrogen might also explain male preferences for female femininity. Despite the prominence of the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis, no studies have tested whether immune function during development predicts adult facial sexual dimorphism. Here, using data from a longitudinal public health dataset, the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study (Generation 2), we show that some aspects of immune function during early adolescence (14 years) positively predict sexually dimorphic 3D face shape in both men and women. Our results support a fundamental assumption that facial sexual dimorphism is an indicator of immune function during the development of facial sexual dimorphism.     

Correlated preferences for facial masculinity and ideal or actual partner's masculinity

Studies of women's preferences for male faces have variously reported preferences for masculine faces, preferences for feminine faces and no effect of masculinity-femininity on male facial attractiveness. It has been suggested that these apparently inconsistent findings are, at least partly, due to differences in the methods used to manipulate the masculinity of face images or individual differences in attraction to facial cues associated with youth. Here, however, we show that women's preferences for masculinity manipulated in male faces using techniques similar to the three most widely used methods are positively inter-related. We also show that women's preferences for masculine male faces are positively related to ratings of the masculinity of their actual partner and their ideal partner. Correlations with partner masculinity were independent of real and ideal partner age, which were not associated with facial masculinity preference. Collectively, these findings suggest that variability among studies in their findings for women's masculinity preferences reflects individual differences in attraction to masculinity rather than differences in the methods used to manufacture stimuli, and are important for the interpretation of previous and future studies of facial masculinity.     

Detection of Propensity for Aggression based on Facial Structure Irrespective of Face Race

The human face provides a wealth of information pertaining to the internal state and life-stage history of an individual. Facial width-to-height ratio is a size-independent sexually dimorphic trait, and estimates of aggression made by untrained adults judging own-race faces were positively associated with both facial width-to-height ratio and actual aggressive behavior. Given the significant adaptive value of accurately detecting aggressiveness based on facial appearance, we hypothesized that aggression estimates made by adults and 8-year-olds would be highly correlated with male facial width-to-height ratio even for a face category with which they had minimal experience-other-race faces. For each of the four race and age groups, estimates of aggression were positively correlated with facial width-to-height ratio irrespective of rating own-or other-race faces. Overall, the correlations between facial width-to-height ratio and ratings of aggression were stronger for adults than for children. Sensitivity to facial width-to-height ratio appears to be part of an evolved mechanism designed to detect threats in the external environment. This mechanism is likely broadly tuned and functions independently of experience.     

A Lack of Sexual Dimorphism in Width-to-Height Ratio in White European Faces Using 2D Photographs, 3D Scans, and Anthropometry

Facial width-to-height ratio has received a great deal of attention in recent research. Evidence from human skulls suggests that males have a larger relative facial width than females, and that this sexual dimorphism is an honest signal of masculinity, aggression, and related traits. However, evidence that this measure is sexually dimorphic in faces, rather than skulls, is surprisingly weak. We therefore investigated facial width-to-height ratio in three White European samples using three different methods of measurement: 2D photographs, 3D scans, and anthropometry. By measuring the same individuals with multiple methods, we demonstrated high agreement across all measures. However, we found no evidence of sexual dimorphism in the face. In our third study, we also found a link between facial width-to-height ratio and body mass index for both males and females, although this relationship did not account for the lack of dimorphism in our sample. While we showed sufficient power to detect differences between male and female width-to-height ratio, our results failed to support the general hypothesis of sexual dimorphism in the face.     

Facial attractiveness ratings from video-clips and static images tell the same story

Most of what we know about what makes a face attractive and why we have the preferences we do is based on attractiveness ratings of static images of faces, usually photographs. However, several reports that such ratings fail to correlate significantly with ratings made to dynamic video clips, which provide richer samples of appearance, challenge the validity of this literature. Here, we tested the validity of attractiveness ratings made to static images, using a substantial sample of male faces. We found that these ratings agreed very strongly with ratings made to videos of these men, despite the presence of much more information in the videos (multiple views, neutral and smiling expressions and speech-related movements). Not surprisingly, given this high agreement, the components of video-attractiveness were also very similar to those reported previously for static-attractiveness. Specifically, averageness, symmetry and masculinity were all significant components of attractiveness rated from videos. Finally, regression analyses yielded very similar effects of attractiveness on success in obtaining sexual partners, whether attractiveness was rated from videos or static images. These results validate the widespread use of attractiveness ratings made to static images in evolutionary and social psychological research. We speculate that this validity may stem from our tendency to make rapid and robust judgements of attractiveness.