Women's Preferences for Men's Facial Masculinity Are Strongest Under Favorable Ecological Conditions

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2019 Mar 6

PMID 30833635

Citations 35

Authors

Urszula M Marcinkowska

Markus J Rantala

Anthony J Lee

Mikhail V Kozlov

Toivo Aavik

Huajian Cai

Jorge Contreras-Garduno

Oana A David

Gwenael Kaminski

Norman P Li

Ike E Onyishi

Keshav Prasai

Farid Pazhoohi

Pavol Prokop

Sandra L Rosales Cardozo

Nicolle Sydney

Hirokazu Taniguchi

Indrikis Krams

Barnaby J W Dixson

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The strength of sexual selection on secondary sexual traits varies depending on prevailing economic and ecological conditions. In humans, cross-cultural evidence suggests women's preferences for men's testosterone dependent masculine facial traits are stronger under conditions where health is compromised, male mortality rates are higher and economic development is higher. Here we use a sample of 4483 exclusively heterosexual women from 34 countries and employ mixed effects modelling to test how social, ecological and economic variables predict women's facial masculinity preferences. We report women's preferences for more masculine looking men are stronger in countries with higher sociosexuality and where national health indices and human development indices are higher, while no associations were found between preferences and indices of intra-sexual competition. Our results show that women's preferences for masculine faces are stronger under conditions where offspring survival is higher and economic conditions are more favorable.

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