No compelling evidence that preferences for facial masculinity track changes in women’s hormonal status

Jones, Benedict C.; Hahn, Amanda C.; Fisher, Claire I.; Wang, Hongyi; Kandrik, Michal; Han, Chengyang; Fasolt, Vanessa; Morrison, Danielle; Lee, Anthony J.; Holzleitner, Iris J.; O�Shea, Kieran J.; Roberts, S. Craig; Little, Anthony C.; DeBruine, Lisa M.

Abstract

Although widely cited as strong evidence that sexual selection has shaped human facial-attractiveness judgments, findings suggesting that women’s preferences for masculine characteristics in men’s faces are related to women’s hormonal status are equivocal and controversial. Consequently, we conducted the largest-ever longitudinal study of the hormonal correlates of women’s preferences for facial masculinity (N = 584). Analyses showed no compelling evidence that preferences for facial masculinity were related to changes in women’s salivary steroid hormone levels. Furthermore, both within-subjects and between-subjects comparisons showed no evidence that oral contraceptive use decreased masculinity preferences. However, women generally preferred masculinized over feminized versions of men’s faces, particularly when assessing men’s attractiveness for short-term, rather than long-term, relationships. Our results do not support the hypothesized link between women’s preferences for facial masculinity and their hormonal status.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 12, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Apr 30, 2018
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jun 11, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 11, 2021
• Journal: Psychological Science
• Print ISSN: 0956-7976
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-9280
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 996-1005
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618760197
• Keywords: General Psychology
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7458625