Do men’s faces really signal heritable immunocompetence?

Abstract

In the literature on human mate choice, masculine facial morphology is often proposed to be an intersexual signal of heritable immunocompetence, and hence an important component of men’s attractiveness. This hypothesis has received considerable research attention, and is increasingly treated as plausible and well supported. In this article, we propose that the strength of the evidence for the immunocompetence hypothesis is somewhat overstated, and that a number of difficulties have been under-acknowledged. Such difficulties include (1) the tentative nature of the evidence regarding masculinity and disease in humans, (2) the complex and uncertain picture emerging from the animal literature on sexual ornaments and immunity, (3) the absence of consistent, cross-cultural support for the predictions of the immunocompetence hypothesis regarding preferences for masculinized stimuli, and (4) evidence that facial masculinity contributes very little, if anything, to overall attractiveness in real men. Furthermore, alternative explanations for patterns of preferences, in particular the proposal that masculinity is primarily an intrasexual signal, have been neglected. We suggest that immunocompetence perspectives on masculinity, whilst appealing in many ways, should still be regarded as speculative, and that other perspectives–and other traits–should be the subject of greater attention for researchers studying human mate preferences.

Women’s Preferences for Men’s Facial Masculinity: Trade-Off Accounts Revisited

“…It has been hypothesized that women should find facial masculinity attractive in potential mates as masculinity may act as an honest signal of male health (e.g., AlonsoAlvarez et al 2007;Folstad and Karter 1992;Moore et al 2011a, b;Rantala et al 2012;Wedekind and Folstad 1994;Foo et al 2017; but see Scott et al 2013), or as it may signal competitive ability to other men and is secondarily attractive to women (e.g., Puts et al 2012;Scott et al 2013). At the same time, it has been found that masculine facial traits increase both perceived dominance and negative attributions of male faces including decreased quality as a parent (e.g., Boothroyd et al 2007;Borras-Guevara et al 2017;Penton-Voak et al 1999;Perrett et al 1998).…”

Women's pathogen disgust predicting preference for facial masculinity may be specific to age and study design

“…Facial masculinity in men may represent heritable genetic quality that improves offspring's fitness; however, this 'good genes' theory has recently been questioned (Scott, Clark, Boothroyd, & Penton-Voak, 2013), and recent evidence suggests that the genes increasing male facial masculinity are detrimental to female attractiveness, reinforcing doubt regarding the link between masculinity and good genes (Lee et al, 2014). Alternatively, indicators of good health may instead be preferred for more direct benefits (Scott et al, 2013;Tybur & Gangestad, 2011). For instance, men with cues to good health may be less likely to succumb to sickness themselves, reducing potential disease transmission to the choosing female.…”

Factors Affecting the Perception of 3D Facial Symmetry from 2D Projections

“…The demand characteristics of a typical experiment are such that the participant is being asked which out of a pair of faces is more attractive and the only difference is that one face is more symmetrical than the other [19]. Forcing a choice in this task could direct the participant to think that he or she should select the more symmetrical face.…”