Cues to fertility: perceived attractiveness and facial shape predict reproductive success

Pflüger, Lena S.; Oberzaucher, Elisabeth; Katina, Stanislav; Holzleitner, Iris J; Grammer, Karl

doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2012.05.005

Cited by 103 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Following this, asymmetry can be quantified as the difference between the original and reflected outline or surface. This method has been used with semilandmarks for 2D outlines [148,294,295] and with 3D surfaces [204,296]. A similar idea was the basis for an ad-hoc method to determine the asymmetry in a single outline contour using image analysis [297].…”

Section: Outline Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A study of parasitoid wasps yielded no evidence for an association between fitness and fluctuating asymmetry of wing shape [129]. Similarly, in humans, no significant correlation was found between fluctuating asymmetry of facial shape in postmenopausal women and the number of their children or pregnancies [295]. In plants, one study presents evidence that asymmetry of floral shape is correlated with measures of overall plant vigor and pollen number and viability, and also that it may affect the rate of visits by pollinators [274].…”

Section: Developmental Instability Of Shape In Relation To Stress Andmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In a study using a large combined sample from different Latin American countries, several factors were correlated to facial asymmetry: the strongest correlation was with age, but ethnic ancestry, heterozygosity, body mass index and height, as well as sex also had appreciable and significant effects [108]. Several studies have examined whether facial asymmetry is related to whether faces are rated as attractive by the subjects themselves or by other viewers, and some found a significant association [57,249,295,374], whereas others found no association [102,105] or a weak association only for male but not female faces [247]. Some analyses showed an association between fluctuating asymmetry and facial femininity or masculinity in humans [375], but others did not [102,374], nor was there a correlation between femininity or masculinity of skull shape and fluctuating asymmetry in baboons, chimpanzees, and gorillas [110].…”

Section: Developmental Instability Of Shape In Relation To Stress Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analyzing Fluctuating Asymmetry with Geometric Morphometrics: Concepts, Methods, and Applications

2015

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Approximately two decades after the first pioneering analyses, the study of shape asymmetry with the methods of geometric morphometrics has matured and is a burgeoning field. New technology for data collection and new methods and software for analysis are widely available and have led to numerous applications in plants and animals, including humans. This review summarizes the concepts and morphometric methods for studying asymmetry of shape and size. After a summary of mathematical and biological concepts of symmetry and asymmetry, a section follows that explains the methods of geometric morphometrics and how they can be used to analyze asymmetry of biological structures. Geometric morphometric analyses not only tell how much asymmetry there is, but also provide information about the patterns of covariation in the structure under study. Such patterns of covariation in fluctuating asymmetry can provide valuable insight about the developmental basis of morphological integration, and have become important tools for evolutionary developmental biology. The genetic basis of fluctuating asymmetry has been studied from empirical and theoretical viewpoints, but serious challenges remain in this area. There are many promising areas for further research that are only little explored at present.

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Section: Outline Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Developmental Instability Of Shape In Relation To Stress Andmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Developmental Instability Of Shape In Relation To Stress Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analyzing Fluctuating Asymmetry with Geometric Morphometrics: Concepts, Methods, and Applications

2015

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“…career [26]). In humans, attractiveness is often but not always associated with increased fecundity and fertility [150,151]. Increased weight compared to normal weight, which may be associated with increased fecundity in low income populations [152], is associated with increased facial attractiveness and increased fertility in the Ache [153].…”

Section: (D) Attractiveness and Early Stressmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental influences on fertility decisions by women: an evolutionary perspective

Coall

Tickner

McAllister

et al. 2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Developmental environments are crucial for shaping our life course. Elements of the early social and biological environments have been consistently associated with reproduction in humans. To date, a strong focus has been on the relationship between early stress, earlier menarche and first child birth in women. These associations, found predominately in high-income countries, have been usefully interpreted within life-history theory frameworks. Fertility, on the other hand—a missing link between an individual's early environment, reproductive strategy and fitness—has received little attention. Here, we synthesize this literature by examining the associations between early adversity, age at menarche and fertility and fecundity in women. We examine the evidence that potential mechanisms such as birth weight, childhood body composition, risky health behaviours and developmental influences on attractiveness link the early environment and fecundity and fertility. The evidence that menarche is associated with fertility and fecundity is good. Currently, owing to the small number of correlational studies and mixed methodologies, the evidence that early adversity predicts fecundity and fertility is not conclusive. This area of research is in its infancy; studies examining early adversity and adult fertility decisions that can also examine likely biological, social and psychological pathways present opportunities for future fertility research.

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“…A sister shares the same proportion (50%) of segregating genes as a daughter, suggesting that choosing a facially masculine male as a mate will tend to decrease the attractiveness of resulting daughters. It is possible that yet-to-be-established genetic benefits to sons outweigh these genetic detriments to daughters -however, any such genetic benefits would need to outweigh not only the detriment of masculinity to female facial attractiveness as found here, but perhaps also apparent detriments to female fertility (Pfluger, Oberzaucher, Katina, Holzleitner, & Grammer, 2012) and health .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Sexual selection and the role of variation in women's mate preference for masculine traits

Lee¹

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Indirect (genetic) benefits to offspring have been proposed as a mechanism for why certain traits are preferred in a partner; however, whether this mechanism plays a role in humans is currently debated. In this thesis, I aim to address whether women's preference for masculinity is due to indirect benefits, which according to the predominant theory is preferred by women for heritable benefits in immune functioning of offspring.Before I present the empirical findings of this thesis, I first give an overview of the evolutionary approach to human mating and describe sexual selection mechanisms that may drive preference for a trait and review the literature on human mate preference for sexual dimorphism (i.e., the masculinity of males and the femininity of females). The thesis is then separated into two parts:In Part 1, I present three studies that investigate the relationship between contextual factors and mate preferences. In Study 1, we tested whether individual pathogen avoidance and resource scarcity predicted revealed mate preferences for facial attractiveness, facial sexual dimorphism, and perceived intelligence based on 689 participants' attractiveness ratings of manipulated online dating profiles. Supporting our predictions, pathogen disgust positively predicted men and women's preferences for facial attractiveness and men's preference for facial femininity, whereas women's resource scarcity negatively predicted their preference for facial masculinity. Contrary to previous results, pathogen disgust was not associated with women's facial masculinity preferences, and unexpectedly, neither pathogen disgust nor resource scarcity predicted preference for greater perceived intelligence. In Study 2, we investigated the association between women's pathogen disgust and facial masculinity preferences further by extending previous research that is solely based on young adult participants and targets, using forced-choice preference measures, begging the question as to whether the findings are generalisable to other adult age groups or other preference measures. We conducted three experiments assessing facial masculinity preferences of women of a iii wider age range rating target faces of a wider age range than previously investigated. In Experiment 1 and 2, 447 and 433 women respectively made forced choices between two identical faces that were manipulated on masculinity/femininity. In Experiment 1, face stimuli were manipulated on sexual dimorphism using age-matched templates, while in Experiment 2 young face stimuli were manipulated with older templates and older face stimuli were manipulated using young templates.In Experiment 3, the facial masculinity preferences of 386 women were revealed through their attractiveness ratings of natural (unmanipulated) faces. For Experiment 1, no association was found between women's pathogen disgust and masculinity preference, but when limiting the sample to younger women rating younger faces we replicated previous findings of significant association between pathogen disgu...

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Cues to fertility: perceived attractiveness and facial shape predict reproductive success

Cited by 103 publications

References 17 publications

Analyzing Fluctuating Asymmetry with Geometric Morphometrics: Concepts, Methods, and Applications

Analyzing Fluctuating Asymmetry with Geometric Morphometrics: Concepts, Methods, and Applications

Developmental influences on fertility decisions by women: an evolutionary perspective

Sexual selection and the role of variation in women's mate preference for masculine traits

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