Menstrual cycle, trait estrogen level, and masculinity preferences in the human voice

Men with low testosterone (feminine men) invest in relationships and offspring more than men with high testosterone (masculine men). Women's attraction to testosterone dependent traits (e.g. masculine face shape) is enhanced during the late-follicular, fertile phase of the menstrual cycle. Attractive, feminine women have stronger preferences for masculine men as possible long-term partners than less attractive, masculine women. We manipulated 2 testosterone related vocal traits (voice pitch and apparent vocal-tract length) in voices to test if women prefer masculinized men's voices to feminized men's voices; masculinity preferences are enhanced at the fertile (late-follicular) menstrual cycle phase; the amount that masculinity preferences shift cyclically relates to average estrone-3-glucuronide concentration (the primary urinary metabolite of estrone, E3G). We found women displayed general masculinity preferences for men's voices; masculinity preferences were greater in the fertile (late-follicular) phase of the cycle than the non-fertile (early-follicular and luteal) phase; and this effect was most pronounced for women with low average E3G concentration. As feminine women (i.e. those with high average E3G levels) are most able to obtain investment even from masculine men, these women may not need to change their mating preference or strategy during the menstrual cycle as much as masculine women.     

Femininity and masculinity across the menstrual cycle: a relation to mate value

Numerous studies have shown that menstrual cycle related variations in sex hormones influence various cognitive processes. These shifts are considered as the evidence for a hormone-mediated adaptive design underlying human mating motivation. In a series of related studies we have shown that (i) femininity does not vary across the menstrual cycle, whereas masculinity is the most pronounced during the fertile period, (ii) masculinity, but not femininity, predicts shifts in spatial cognition across the menstrual cycle, and (iii) women with different positions on masculinity and femininity dimensions differ in their self-perceived mate value. These results suggest that (i) there might be a hormone mediated psychological mechanism making a woman more assertive and dominant during a short time-window when the conception is likely, (ii) menstrual cycle related shifts in cognitive abilities and mating motivation might have a common hormonal mechanism, and (iii) women's mate value (and indirectly her reproductive success) depends upon both feminine and masculine traits.     

Cyclic variation in women’s preferences for masculine traits

Women’s preferences for several male traits, including voices, change over the menstrual cycle, but the proximate causes of these changes are unknown. This paper explores relationships between levels of estradiol, progesterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, prolactin, and testosterone (estimated using menstrual cycle information) and women’s preferences for male vocal masculinity in normally cycling and hormonally contracepting heterosexual females. Preferences for vocal masculinity decreased with predicted progesterone levels and increased with predicted prolactin levels in normally cycling—but not hormonally contracepting—women. Adaptive explanations for menstrual variation in women’s preferences for masculine traits are discussed and evaluated in light of these findings.     

Raised salivary testosterone in women is associated with increased attraction to masculine faces

Women's preferences for masculinity in men's faces, voices and behavioral displays change during the menstrual cycle and are strongest around ovulation. While previous findings suggest that change in progesterone level is an important hormonal mechanism for such variation, it is likely that changes in the levels of other hormones will also contribute to cyclic variation in masculinity preferences. Here we compared women's preferences for masculine faces at two points in the menstrual cycle where women differed in salivary testosterone, but not in salivary progesterone or estrogen. Preferences for masculinity were strongest when women's testosterone levels were relatively high. Our findings complement those from previous studies that show systematic variation in masculinity preferences during the menstrual cycle and suggest that change in testosterone level may play an important role in cyclic shifts in women's preferences for masculine traits.     

Preferences for masculinity in male bodies change across the menstrual cycle

In human females cyclic shifts in preference have been documented for odour and physical and behavioral male traits. Women prefer the smell of dominant males, more masculine male faces and men behaving more dominantly when at peak fertility than at other times in their menstrual cycle. Here we examine variation in preferences for body sexual dimorphism. Across two studies, both between- and within-participant, we show that women prefer greater masculinity in male bodies at times when their fertility is likely highest, in the follicular phase of their cycle. Shifts were seen when rating for a short-term but not when rating for a long-term relationship. In line with studies showing similar effects for facial sexual dimorphism, we also show that women prefer greater masculinity when they think themselves attractive than when they think themselves less attractive. These results indicate that women's preferences for sexual dimorphism in male bodies follow a similar pattern as found for sexual dimorphism and dominance in other domains and such differences in preference may serve a similar function. Cyclic preferences could influence women to select partners when most likely to become pregnant that possess traits that may be most likely to maximize their offspring's quality via attraction to masculinity or serve to help acquire investment via attraction to femininity.     

Does Early Psychosocial Stress Affect Mate Choice?

Early psychosocial stress (e.g., parental divorce, abuse) is conjectured to place individuals on a developmental trajectory leading to earlier initiation of sexual activity, earlier reproduction, and having more sex partners than those with less early psychosocial stress. But does it also affect an individual’s mate choice? The present study examined whether early psychosocial stress affects preferences and dislikes for opposite-sex faces varying in masculinity/femininity, a putative indicator of mate quality, in premenopausal women (58 with a natural cycle, 53 pill-users) and 196 men. No significant three-way interactions were found when women selected the most or least preferred face with participant group (natural cycle, pill), conception risk (low, high), and early psychosocial stress (low, high) as between-subjects factors. Early psychosocial stress did not affect men’s face preferences when selecting the most preferred face. However, men with high early psychosocial stress disliked masculine faces significantly more so than men with low early psychosocial stress. Overall it was concluded that early psychosocial stress does not affect mate choice with the exception that men with high early psychosocial stress were more likely to dislike masculine female faces. It was suggested that men with high early psychosocial stress may dislike masculine female faces because they have nothing to gain from associating with women with such faces.     

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.     

Female Preferences for Male Vocal and Facial Masculinity in Videos

Vocal and facial masculinity are cues to underlying testosterone in men and influence women’s mate preferences. Consistent with the proposal that facial and vocal masculinity signal common information about men, prior work has revealed correlated female preferences for male facial and vocal masculinity. Previous studies have assessed women’s preferences for male facial and vocal masculinity by presenting faces and voices independently and using static face stimuli. By contrast, here we presented women with short video clips in which male faces and voices were simultaneously manipulated in masculinity. We found that women who preferred masculine faces also preferred masculine voices. Furthermore, women whose faces were rated as relatively more attractive preferred both facial and vocal masculinity more than did women whose faces were rated as less attractive. These findings complement other evidence for cross‐modal masculinity preferences among women and demonstrate 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.     

Second to fourth digit ratio, testosterone and perceived male dominance

Previous studies have shown that male faces with extreme features associated with testosterone are perceived as dominant and masculine. Women have been reported to prefer more masculinized male faces as they may consider testosterone markers to be an 'honest' indication of good health, and such considerations may underlie their aesthetic preferences. However, pronounced testosterone facial markers are also associated with dominance, and several negative personality traits. This suggests that female aesthetic preferences may be an adaptive compromise between positive attributes associated with higher than average testosterone, and negative attributes associated with more extreme masculinization. This current study attempts to clarify the role of hormone markers in female perceptions of dominance, masculinity and attractiveness, in male facial images. Recent evidence suggests that the relative length of the 2nd to 4th finger (2D : 4D ratio) is a pointer to prenatal testosterone levels and may thus serve as a window to the prenatal hormonal environment. We measured 2D : 4D in a sample of male college students and took salivary samples to analyse circulating levels of testosterone. Women rated facial images of these males for dominance, masculinity and attractiveness. Our results show that male 2D : 4D was significantly negatively related to perceived dominance and masculinity but not attractiveness. Circulating testosterone levels were not related to dominance, masculinity or attractiveness. These findings suggest that: (i) high prenatal levels of testosterone serve to 'organize' male facial features to subsequently reflect dominance and masculine characteristics presumably activated during puberty; and (ii) attractiveness is not directly related to testosterone levels. We conclude that facial dominance and masculinity reflect a male's perceived status rather than his physical attraction to women.     

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.     

Women's behavioural engagement with a masculine male heightens during the fertile window: evidence for the cycle shift hypothesis

Previous research suggests that women may alter their behaviour during the fertile window of the menstrual cycle to attract a mate who has traits that indicate high-quality genes. We tested whether fertile women demonstrate greater behavioural engagement with a masculine compared to a less masculine male. The test was performed using a quiz show paradigm, in which a male host asked female participants general knowledge questions. The masculinity of the host was varied between participants. Women's performance on the quiz, as well as their romantic attraction to the host, was examined in relation to women's estimated cycle phase and host masculinity. Fertile compared to nonfertile women were more romantically attracted to the host and were faster to answer his questions, but only when he was portrayed as masculine. The results of the study are interpreted as being in keeping with Gangestad and Thornhill's cycle shift hypothesis (Menstrual cycle variation in women's preferences for the scent of symmetrical men. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 1998;265:727–733. doi:10.1098/rspb.1998.03801998).     

Women's preferences for men's scents associated with testosterone and cortisol levels: Patterns across the ovulatory cycle

Women in the fertile phase of their menstrual cycle show an enhanced sexual preference for masculine expressions in behavioral, morphological and scent traits. These masculinity preferences may be associated with testosterone (T) levels in males and hence connote male quality as a sire. Thus, a scent preference of fertile-phase women for T is predicted. A recent study, however, found no evidence for this, but reported that women prefer the scent of men with high cortisol (C). That study had low power to detect the predicted effect, as well as other methodological limitations. We tested women's preferences across their ovulatory cycle for the body scent of men who varied in T and C, using a larger sample of men and methods used in research on cycle preferences for symmetry-related male body scent. Conception risk in the cycle positively predicted women's scent ratings of men's T; scent ratings of C or T × C interaction were not robustly related to conception risk. Conception risk is related positively to a preference for scent of men's symmetry. This preference is distinct from that arising from a preference for the scent of T. The male-emitted chemical(s) responsible for these preferences shifts across women's cycle remain unknown.     

Aggressor or protector? Experiences and perceptions of violence predict preferences for masculinity

Women's preferences for masculine male partners have been explained in terms of heritable health. The evidence between masculinity and health, however, is controversial and therefore, alternative explanations for masculinity preferences reflecting income inequality and protection from violence have been proposed. This study thus aimed to test the effect of exposure to violence (i.e., experiences of robberies and perceptions of danger) on the individual masculinity preferences of women and men from the capital city of Colombia, Bogota, and surrounding small towns. One hundred and fifty three adult participants (mean age ± S.D. = 31.3 ± 9.4), all heterosexual, were surveyed in reference to indicators related to health (e.g., drinking water access, frequency of illnesses), access to media (e.g., television and internet access), education (e.g., graduating from high school, attending university) and exposure to violence (e.g., frequency of robberies/attacks, feelings of danger from violence). Participants made two alternatives, preference forced-choice for masculinized and feminized versions of both rural Salvadoran and European male faces. We found that men and women exposed to higher levels of violence preferred less masculine male faces, although this effect was only significant for women. Additionally, the effect of violence exposure was more relevant for the Salvadoran stimuli. Violence contributed significantly to explaining masculinity preferences after controlling for participant age, education, access to media, and health-related factors. These preferences may reflect women's strategy to avoid male violence demonstrating that exposure to violence matters in interpersonal attraction.     

Partnership status and the temporal context of relationships influence human female preferences for sexual dimorphism in male face shape

Secondary sexual characteristics may indicate quality of the immune system and therefore a preference for masculinity may confer genetic benefits to offspring; however, high masculinity may be associated with costs of decreased paternal investment. The current study examined women's preferences for masculinity in male faces by using computer graphics to allow transformation between feminine and masculine versions of individual male faces. We found that preferences for masculinity are increased when women either have a partner or are considering a short-term relationship. Such preferences are potentially adaptive, serving to: (i) maximize parental investment and cooperation in long-term relationships by biasing choices towards feminine faced males, and (ii) maximize possible good-gene benefits of short-term or extra-pair partners by biasing choices towards masculine faced males. We also found that individuals using oral contraception do not show the above effects, indicating that such hormonal intervention potentially disrupts women's choices for evolutionarily relevant benefits from males.     

Environmental threat influences preferences for sexual dimorphism in male and female faces but not voices or dances

During evolution, humans faced the trade-off between preferences for feminine and masculine traits which are presumably connected to parental care, and genetic quality or provisioning abilities, respectively. Recent research has shown that environmental factors influence preferences for femininity/masculinity in potential mates. However, studies mainly focus on women's preferences for isolated cues in men. We examined the influence of pathogen and resource threat on women's and men's preference for femininity/masculinity in opposite sex unmanipulated faces, voices, and dances. Three hundred seventy (206 women) students, aged 18–35 years, from universities across the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, were primed with newspaper-like articles on either pathogen threat (Aedes aegypti, and its mosquito-borne diseases) or resource threat (=economic crisis), and compared to a control-priming condition (lions poisoned in a Kenyan Reserve). Participants were randomly assigned to rate attractiveness of the stimuli in one of the mating strategies (i.e., short-term or long-term relationship context). After each priming article, participants rated attractiveness of pre-rated masculine and feminine stimuli of the opposite sex in a standalone-rating design. The environmental threats and the control-priming conditions were shown in a random sequence. We found that the environmental threat and the mating strategies had no systematic effect on preferences for faces, voices and behavior, suggesting that different modalities can cue to different individual qualities and can be used differently according to the environmental context and relationship strategy. The environmental threat only had a weak effect on preferences for facial femininity-masculinity: women found feminine male faces more attractive under pathogen threat, while men found feminine female faces more attractive under resource threat. This is in contrast to some previous studies, and shows that effect of ecological factors on human psychology should be submitted to a more rigorous scrutiny. The mating strategies only interacted with voice attractiveness: women rated male voices as more attractive after being primed with any type of environmental threat when considering long-term relationship context, while in men this was true when considering short-term relationship. Finally, feminine dance videos were perceived as attractive under environmental threat, irrespective of sex, type of environmental threat or mating strategy.     

Changes in salivary estradiol predict changes in women's preferences for vocal masculinity

Although many studies have reported that women's preferences for masculine physical characteristics in men change systematically during the menstrual cycle, the hormonal mechanisms underpinning these changes are currently poorly understood. Previous studies investigating the relationships between measured hormone levels and women's masculinity preferences tested only judgments of men's facial attractiveness. Results of these studies suggested that preferences for masculine characteristics in men's faces were related to either women's estradiol or testosterone levels. To investigate the hormonal correlates of within-woman variation in masculinity preferences further, here we measured 62 women's salivary estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone levels and their preferences for masculine characteristics in men's voices in five weekly test sessions. Multilevel modeling of these data showed that changes in salivary estradiol were the best predictor of changes in women's preferences for vocal masculinity. These results complement other recent research implicating estradiol in women's mate preferences, attention to courtship signals, sexual motivation, and sexual strategies, and are the first to link women's voice preferences directly to measured hormone levels.     

Do more attractive women show stronger preferences for male facial masculinity?

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.     

Lack of support for relation between woman's masculinity preference,estradiol level and mating context

It has been proposed that women's preferences for male facial sexual dimorphism are positively correlated with conception probability and differ between short- and long-term mating contexts. In this study, we tested this assumption by analyzing relationships between estradiol levels to the women's preferences of male faces that were manipulated to vary in masculinity. Estradiol was measured in daily saliva samples throughout the entire menstrual cycle collected by Polish women with regular menstrual cycles. In our analyses, we included the three most commonly used definitions of the fertile window in the literature. After computing the overall masculinity preference of each participant and measuring hormone levels, we found that i) the timing of ovulation varied greatly among women (between − 11 and − 17 days from the onset of the next menses, counting backwards), ii) there was no relationship between daily, measured during the day of the test (N = 83) or average for the cycle (N = 115) estradiol levels and masculinity preferences, iii) there were no differences in masculinity preferences between women in low- and high-conception probability phases of the cycle, and iv) there were no differences in masculinity preferences between short- and long-term mating contexts. Our results do not support the idea that women's preferences for a potential sexual partner's facial masculinity fluctuate throughout the cycle.     

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.     

Depression,Sex and Gender Roles in Older Adult Populations: The International Mobility in Aging Study (IMIAS)

Objectives

To assess the associations between gender roles and depression in older men and women and whether gender roles are independent risk factors for depression.

Methods

International cross-sectional study of adults between 65 and 74 years old (n = 1,967). Depression was defined by a score of 16 or over in the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). A validated 12-item Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) was used to classify participants in gender roles (Masculine, Feminine, Androgynous, and Undifferentiated) using research site medians of femininity and masculinity as cut-off points. Poisson regressions were fitted to estimate the prevalence ratios (PR) of depression for each gender role compared to the masculine role, adjusting for sex, sufficiency of income, education, marital status, self-rated health, and chronic conditions.

Results

Among men, 31.2% were androgynous, 26% were masculine, 14.4% were feminine, and 28.4% were undifferentiated; among women, the corresponding percentages were 32.7%, 14.9%, 27%, and 25.4%. Both in men and in women, depressive symptoms (CES-D≥16) were more prevalent in those endorsing the undifferentiated type, compared to masculine, feminine or androgynous groups. However, after adjusting for potential confounders, compared to the masculine group only those endorsing the androgynous role were 28% less likely to suffer from depression: PR of 0.72 (95% CI: 0.55–0.93). In fully adjusted models, prevalence rates of depression were not different from masculine participants in the two other gender groups of feminine and undifferentiated.

Conclusions

Androgynous roles were associated with lower rates of depression in older adults, independently of being a man or a woman.