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.

Citation

Jones, B. C., Hahn, A. C., Fisher, C. I., Wang, H., Kandrik, M., Han, C., …DeBruine, L. M. (2018). No compelling evidence that preferences for facial masculinity track changes in women’s hormonal status. Psychological Science, 29(6), 996-1005. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618760197

• 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