“…Across cultures, men were likewise more likely to display beards, another putative status badge, rather than shaving under crowded conditions with high anonymity (Dixson et al, 2017). Moreover, cross-species analyses indicate that conspicuous visual (Grueter et al, 2015) and acoustic (Aung, Hill, et al, 2023) female mate choice in shaping this preference because females may prefer high-status males especially in longterm contexts (Buss & Schmitt, 1993). However, our results are inconsistent with the hypotheses that women's masculinity preferences are stronger in short-term mating contexts to recruit heritable fitness benefits for offspring (e.g., Puts, 2005) or in violent environments because of an increased need for protection (Brooks et al, 2011).…”