Influence of Perceived Height, Masculinity, and Age on Each Other and on Perceptions of Dominance in Male Faces

Kannan

2017

Hum Nat

Self Cite

Previous studies have found that individuals from rural areas in Malaysia and in El Salvador prefer heavier women than individuals from urban areas. Several explanations have been proposed to explain these differences in weight preferences but no study has explored familiarity as a possible explanation. We therefore sought to investigate participants’ face preferences while also examining the facial characteristics of the actual participants. Our results showed that participants from rural areas preferred heavier-looking female faces than participants from urban areas. We also found that the female faces from the rural areas were rated as looking heavier than the female faces from the urban areas. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that familiarity may be contributing to the differences found in face preferences between rural and urban areas given that people from rural and urban areas are exposed to different faces.

Section: Methods: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Familiarity with Own Population’s Appearance Influences Facial Preferences

Kannan

2017

Hum Nat

Self Cite

“…Ten composite images (five male and five female) were created (each averaging three original faces together) and masked to occlude clothes with a black oval around the head (for details see Batres et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How the Harsh Environment of an Army Training Camp Changes Human (Homo sapiens) Facial Preferences

2016

Ethology

Self Cite

Previous studies suggest that facial preferences may be contingent on an individual's environment, yet no study has traced how the preferences of the same individuals change as their environment changes. We therefore sought to determine if, and to what extent, adiposity and masculinity preferences are malleable by repeatedly testing students whose environment was not changing as well as students undergoing intensive training at an army camp. Our results showed that at baseline, the students at the training camp preferred more feminine male faces. This suggests that even before the training commenced, participants in the training camp may have been in a psychological state that predisposed them to prefer more trustworthy (i.e., more feminine) men. Additionally, we found that the students at the training camp reported increases in multiple stressors as well as showed changes in adiposity preferences. More specifically, we found that increases in the harshness of the environment led to an increased male attraction to cues of higher weight in female faces. Such changes in preferences may be adaptive because they allow men more opportunities to mate with women who are better equipped to survive and reproduce. These findings thus provide new evidence for the malleability of preferences depending on the environment.Ethology 123 (2017) 61-68

“…Since male masculinity is associated with dominance (Dijkstra & Buunk, 2001;Batres, Re, & Perrett, 2015), it could be advantageous for women to choose a more masculine male in environments with a high level of male-male competition (Puts, 2010;Brooks et al, 2011). Ryder et al, (2016) found that at the individual level, women preferred more physically formidable and dominant partners when they felt more at risk of crime in public places.…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Borras-Guevara

Evolution and Human Behavior

2017

Self Cite

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 alternative, 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.