Evolution & Human Behavior
Volume 24, Issue 3 , Pages 199-207 , May 2003

Facial attractiveness in men provides clues to semen quality

  • C Soler

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +34-9635-44387; fax: +34-9635-44387
    • Department of Functional Biology and Physical Anthropology, Universitat de València, 46100 Burjassot, Spain
  • ,
  • M Núñez

      Affiliations

    • Department of Functional Biology and Physical Anthropology, Universitat de València, 46100 Burjassot, Spain
  • ,
  • R Gutiérrez

      Affiliations

    • Department of Functional Biology and Physical Anthropology, Universitat de València, 46100 Burjassot, Spain
    • Department of Chemistry and Biology, Universidad del Norte, Km. 5 Vı́a Puerto Colombia, Barranquilla, Colombia
  • ,
  • J Núñez

      Affiliations

    • Department of Functional Biology and Physical Anthropology, Universitat de València, 46100 Burjassot, Spain
  • ,
  • P Medina

      Affiliations

    • Department of Functional Biology and Physical Anthropology, Universitat de València, 46100 Burjassot, Spain
  • ,
  • M Sancho

      Affiliations

    • Department of Functional Biology and Physical Anthropology, Universitat de València, 46100 Burjassot, Spain
  • ,
  • J Álvarez

      Affiliations

    • Unidad de la Mujer, La Coruña, Spain
    • Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
  • ,
  • A Núñez

      Affiliations

    • Department of Functional Biology and Physical Anthropology, Universitat de València, 46100 Burjassot, Spain
    • In memoriam.

Received 18 November 2002 ,Revised 7 March 2003

References 

  1. Barber N. The evolutionary psychology of physical attractiveness: sexual selection and human morphology. Ethology and Sociobiology. 1995;16:395–424
  2. Birkhead TR, Fletcher F. Male phenotype and ejaculate quality in the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences. 1995;262:329–334
  3. Chen AC, German C, Zaidel DW. Brain asymmetry and facial attractiveness: facial beauty is not simply in the eye of the beholder. Neuropsychologia. 1997;35:471–476
  4. Cunningham MR. Measuring the physical in physical attractiveness: quasi-experiments on the socio-biology of female facial beauty. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1986;50:925–935
  5. Galiana, A. (1999). Secondary sexual traits in humans, women in particular in 7th European Society for Evolutionary Biology Congress. Barcelona.
  6. Gangestad SW. Sexual selection and physical attractiveness: implications for mating dynamics. Human Nature. 1993;4:205–235
  7. Gangestad SW, Buss DM. Pathogen prevalence and human mate preference. Ethology and Sociobiology. 1993;14:89–96
  8. Grammer K, Thornhill R. Human (Homo sapiens) facial attractiveness and sexual selection: the role of symmetry and averageness. Journal of Comparative Psychology. 1994;108:233–242
  9. Jöchle W. Coitus induced ovulation. Contraception. 1973;7:523–564
  10. Kalick SM, Zebrowitz LA, Langlois JH, Johnson RM. Does human facial attractiveness honestly advertise health? Longitudinal data on an evolutionary question. Psychological Science. 1998;9:8–13
  11. Kaplan H, Hill K. Hunting ability and reproductive success among male Ache Foragers: preliminary results. Current Anthropology. 1985;26:131–133
  12. Low BL. Why sex matters. A Darwinian look at human behaviour. Princeton Univ. Press; 2000;
  13. Magro AM. Evolutionary-derived anatomical characteristics and universal attractiveness. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1999;88:147–166
  14. Manning JT, Scutt D, Lewis-Jones DI. Developmental stability, ejaculate size, and sperm quality in men. Evolution and Human Behavior. 1998;19:273–282
  15. Manning JT, Scutt D, Wilson J, Lewis-Jones DI. The ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length: a predictor of sperm numbers and concentrations of testosterone, luteinizing hormone and oestrogen. Human Reproduction. 1998;13:3000–3004
  16. Pawlowski B, Dunbar RIM, Lipowicz A. Evolutionary fitness: tall men have more reproductive success. Nature. 2000;403:156
  17. Penton-Voak IS, Perret DI. Female preference for males faces changes cyclically: further evidence. Evolution and Human Behavior. 2000;21:39–48
  18. Perrett DI, Burt DM, Penton VIS, Lee KJ, Rowland DA, Edwards R. Symmetry and human facial attractiveness. Evolution and Human Behavior. 1999;20:295–307
  19. Perrett DI, Lee KJ, Penton-Voak I, Rolaand DA, Yoshikawa S, Burt DM, et al. Effects of sexual dimorphism on facial attractiveness. Nature. 1998;394:884–887
  20. Perrett DI, May KA, Yoshikawa S. Facial shape and judgements of female attractiveness. Nature. 1994;368:239–242
  21. Pollard I. A guide to reproduction. Social issues and human concerns. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press; 1994;
  22. Rhodes G, Proffitt F, Grady JM, Sumich A. Facial symmetry and the perception of beauty. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. 1998;5:659–669
  23. Rikowski A, Grammer K. Human body odour, symmetry and attractiveness. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences. 1999;266:869–874
  24. Roldán ERS, Cassinello J, Abaigar T, Gomendio M. Inbreeding, fluctuating asymmetry, and ejaculate quality in an endangered ungulate. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences. 1998;265:243–248
  25. Roldán ERS, Gomendio M. The Y chromosome as a battle ground for sexual selection. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 1999;14:58–62
  26. Shackelford TK, Larsen RJ. Facial asymmetry as an indicator of psychological, emotional, and physiological distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1997;72:456–466
  27. Shackelford TK, Larsen RJ. Facial attractiveness and physical health. Evolution and Human Behavior. 1999;20:71–76
  28. Soler C, Gutiérrez R, Núñez M, Buendı́a P, Núñez J, Pérez-Sánchez F. Análisis transcultural del concepto de atractivo facial masculino y de su relación son la calidad seminal. Actualidad Andrologica. 2000;8:134
  29. Tarı́n JJ, Gómez-Piquer V. Do women have a hidden heat period?. Human Reproduction. 2002;17:2243–2248
  30. Thornhill R, Gangestad SW. The evolution of human sexuality. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 1996;11:A98–A102
  31. Thornhill R, Gangestad SW. Facial attractiveness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 1999;3:452–460
  32. Thornhill R, Gangestad SW. The scent of symmetry: a human sex pheromone that signals fitness?. Evolution and Human Behavior. 1999;20:175–201
  33. Trivers RL. The evolution of reciprocal altruism. Quarterly Review of Biology. 1971;46:35–57
  34. World Health Organization . WHO laboratory manual for the examination of human semen and sperm–cervical mucus interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press; 1999;

PII: S1090-5138(03)00013-8

doi: 10.1016/S1090-5138(03)00013-8

Evolution & Human Behavior
Volume 24, Issue 3 , Pages 199-207 , May 2003