Affiliation: | aDepartment of Psychology, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States bSchool of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States cDepartment of Psychology, University at Albany, The State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, United States dDepartment of Radiology, Temple University, Hospital, 3401 Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19140, United States |
Abstract: | The detection of genetic relatedness (i.e., kinship) affects the social, parental, and sexual behavior of many species. In humans, self-referent phenotype matching based on facial resemblance may indicate kinship, and it has been demonstrated that facial resemblance increases perceptions of trustworthiness and attractiveness [Proc. R. Soc. Lond., B Biol. Sci. 269 (2002) 1307–1312; Proc. R. Soc. Lond., B Biol. Sci. (in press)]. However, investigations of sex differences in reaction to facial resemblance have produced mixed results [Evol. Hum. Behav. 25 (2004) 142–154; Evol. Hum. Behav. 23 (2002) 159–166; Evol. Hum. Behav. 24 (2003) 81–87]. Here, we replicate the effects of Platek et al. [Evol. Hum. Behav. 23 (2002) 159–166] using high-resolution color morphing. We also extend these findings using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to demonstrate a possible neural mechanism that may account for the observed sex difference. These data support the hypothesis that human males may use and favor facial resemblance as a paternity cue. |