The myth of hidden ovulation: Shape and texture changes in the face during the menstrual cycle

Oberzaucher, Elisabeth; Katina, Stanislav; Schmehl, Susanne; Holzleitner, Iris J; Mehu-Blantar, Inès; Grammer, Karl

doi:10.1556/jep.10.2012.4.1

Cited by 45 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Such results can be interpreted as men's ability to detect 'leaky cues' to ovulation, serving men in the arms race between women's effort to conceal ovulation and men's selective advantage to detect it. Alternatively, men's preference for ovulatory cues might occur because facial signals of ovulation are identical to what is typically seen as attractive in women's faces [8,15]. In this case, women (like men) should find ovulatory faces more attractive than luteal faces, which was not the case in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

“…Women were shown pairs of faces, one of which depicted an ovulatory face, the other a luteal face, and were asked to choose the more attractive woman. According to some authors ( [8], see also [15]), facial signals of ovulation might be identical to what is typically seen as attractive in women's faces. If this were true we would expect that both women and men should find female faces showing ovulation cues more attractive.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Can women detect cues to ovulation in other women's faces?

2016

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Recent research suggests that men find portraits of ovulatory women more attractive than photographs of the same women taken during the luteal phase. Only few studies have investigated whether the same is true for women. The ovulatory phase matters to men because women around ovulation are most likely to conceive, and might matter to women because fertile women might pose a reproductive threat. In an online study 160 women were shown face pairs, one of which was assimilated to the shape of a late follicular prototype and the other to a luteal prototype, and were asked to indicate which face they found more attractive. A further 60 women were tested in the laboratory using a similar procedure. In addition to choosing the more attractive face, these participants were asked which woman would be more likely to steal their own date. Because gonadal hormones influence competitive behaviour, we also examined whether oestradiol, testosterone and progesterone levels predict women's choices. The women found neither the late follicular nor the luteal version more attractive. However, naturally cycling women with higher oestradiol levels were more likely to choose the ovulatory woman as the one who would entice their date than women with lower oestradiol levels. These results imply a role of oestradiol when evaluating other women who are competing for reproduction. BackgroundOvulation cues in humans are subtle but perceivable (for a review, see [1] [6,7] and look [8][9][10][11] more attractive during the fertile days of their menstrual cycle. Most of these studies looked exclusively at preferences of men [2,[5][6][7][10][11][12] as men directly benefit from ovulation detection in women: the likelihood of reproducing is highest with a woman who is in her fertile cycle phase (cf. [7]). For women, the benefit of detecting other women's fertility is less clear. Some researchers negate any adaptive function for women being sensitive to ovulation cues in other women (e.g. [13]) while others have claimed that it is also beneficial for women to detect ovulation in other women, especially in the context of intra-sexual competition (cf. [14]). For example, ovulatory women may be more likely to engage in poaching behaviours and they might be more attractive to men, posing a potential threat to other (non-ovulating) women. Indeed, previous studies have shown that men find ovulatory faces more attractive [10,11].Here we investigate whether women show a similar preference for ovulatory faces to men. Women were shown pairs of faces, one of which depicted an ovulatory face, the other a luteal face, and were asked to choose the more attractive woman. According to some authors ([8], see also [15]), facial signals of ovulation might be identical to what is typically seen as attractive in women's faces. If this were true we would expect that both women and men should find female faces showing ovulation cues more attractive. Alternatively, if detecting ovulation cues is beneficial

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Can women detect cues to ovulation in other women's faces?

2016

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“…Recent investigations have shown that near peak fertility, women's faces are not only rated as more attractive by observers, but are also characteristically more feminine in appearance (Oberzaucher et al, 2012;Puts et al, 2013;Roberts et al, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of exogenous testosterone and mating context on men's preferences for female facial femininity

Bird

Welling

Ortiz

et al. 2016

Hormones and Behavior

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Correlational research suggests that men show greater attraction to feminine female faces when their testosterone (T) levels are high. Men's preferences for feminine faces also seem to vary as a function of relationship context (short versus long-term).However, the relationship between T and preferences for female facial femininity has yet to be tested experimentally. This thesis examined the causal role of T in modulating preferences for facial femininity across both short and long-term mating contexts, using two separate experiments. Results of Experiment 1 (within-subject design, n = 24)showed that participants significantly preferred feminized versus masculinized versions of women's faces. Further, participants showed a stronger preference for feminine female faces in the short-versus the long-term context after they received T, but not after they received placebo. Post-hoc analyses suggest that this effect was driven by a lower preference for feminine faces in the long-term context when on T relative to placebo.Results from Experiment 2 (between-subject design, n = 93) were highly consistent with those of Experiment 1: men demonstrated a significant preference for feminized female faces in the short-versus the long-term context after T, but not after placebo administration, and this effect was driven by lower preferences for feminine faces in the long-term context when on T relative to placebo. Collectively, these findings provide the first causal evidence that T modulates men's preferences for facial femininity as a function of mating context.

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“…Also, no correlation was found between facial fluctuating asymmetry and the ratio of second to fourth digits, which relates to prenatal exposure to sex hormones [375,376]. By contrast, short-term effects of hormonal levels on asymmetry have been shown, as the asymmetry of facial shape changes during the menstrual cycle of individual women [294]. Finally, some human behavioral traits are also correlated with fluctuating asymmetry of facial shape, such as the tendency to cooperate or defect in the "prisoner's dilemma" game [374,375], some aggressive behaviors in adolescents [248], and personality traits [377,378].…”

Section: Developmental Instability Of Shape In Relation To Stress Andmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…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%

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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The myth of hidden ovulation: Shape and texture changes in the face during the menstrual cycle

Cited by 45 publications

References 28 publications

Can women detect cues to ovulation in other women's faces?

Can women detect cues to ovulation in other women's faces?

Effects of exogenous testosterone and mating context on men's preferences for female facial femininity

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

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