Original articles
Female preference for male faces changes cyclically: Further evidence

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Abstract

Research has failed to reach consensus on the characteristics of attractive male faces. Different studies have reported preferences for phenotypically average faces, and faces with both exaggerated and reduced sexual dimorphism. Recent studies demonstrate cyclic changes in female sexual behavior and preferences for odors and facial characteristics that may reflect conditional mating strategies. We employed computer graphic techniques to manipulate the “masculinity” or “femininity” of a composite male face by exaggerating or reducing the shape differences between female and male average faces. Five stimuli with varying levels of masculinity and femininity were presented in a national U.K. magazine, with a questionnaire. Female respondents in the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle (n = 55) were significantly more likely to choose a masculine face than those in menses and luteal phases (n = 84). This study provides further evidence that when conception is most likely, females prefer testosterone-related facial characteristics that may honestly advertise immunocompetence.

Section snippets

Stimuli

Forty female and 21 male second-year undergraduate students (mean age 20 years) were photographed on 35-mm film (Fuji Provia, 200 ASA). All individuals photographed were Caucasian. Sitters were asked to remove facial jewelry (ear and nose rings) and to push their hair back from their foreheads, using bands provided if necessary. Subjects sat on a stool facing the camera 2 meters from the tripod in front of a blue background. The height of the stool was adjusted so that the sitter could see his

Results

Figure 2 shows the percentage of subjects who selected each face in the low and high conception risk groups. Responses in the high (n = 55) and low (n = 84) conception risk groups were not normally distributed (one-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z = 2.10 and 2.07, respectively; p < .001 in both cases), so nonparametric tests were used in all analyses.

A Chi-square test demonstrated that the high conception risk group were not selecting faces at random (χ2 = 11.45, 4 df, p = .022). Inspection of Fig. 2

Discussion

These data provide further evidence that women are attracted to relatively exaggerated male traits when conception following coitus is most likely (days 6–14 of the follicular phase) and not at other times of the menstrual cycle. The absence of a marked preference for any of the faces in the low conception risk group (menses and luteal phases) is consistent with the finding by Gangestad and Thornhill (1998) finding that women discriminate between the scent of symmetric and less symmetric men

Acknowledgements

I.P.-V. was supported by an ESRC PhD studentship. This work was supported by project grants to D.P. from Unilever Research and the ESRC-ROPA. We are indebted to the help from D. Carrington at the BBC Tomorrow's World magazine/BBC online. We thank A. Whiten, R. Byrne, M. Goodale, M. Ridley, J. Graves, H. Cronin, J. Scheib, and an anonymous referee for helpful comments on the study and manuscript.

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