No compelling evidence that more physically attractive young adult women have higher estradiol or progesterone

Jones, B. C. , Hahn, A. C. , Fisher, C. I., Wang, H., Kandrik, M. , lao, J., Han, C. , Lee, A. J. , Holzleitner, I. J. and Debruine, L. M. (2018) No compelling evidence that more physically attractive young adult women have higher estradiol or progesterone. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 98, pp. 1-5. (doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.07.026) (PMID:30077864)

Abstract

Putative associations between sex hormones and attractive physical characteristics in women are central to many theories of human physical attractiveness and mate choice. Although such theories have become very influential, evidence that physically attractive and unattractive women have different hormonal profiles is equivocal. Consequently, we investigated hypothesized relationships between salivary estradiol and progesterone and two aspects of women’s physical attractiveness that are commonly assumed to be correlated with levels of these hormones: facial attractiveness (N=249) and waist-to-hip ratio (N=247). Our analyses revealed no compelling evidence that women with more attractive faces or lower (i.e., more attractive) waist-to-hip ratios had higher levels of estradiol or progesterone. One analysis did suggest that women with more attractive waist-to-hip ratios had significantly higher progesterone, but the relationship was weak and the relationship not significant in other analyses. These results do not support the influential hypothesis that between-women differences in physical attractiveness are related to estradiol and/or progesterone.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Han, Mr Chengyang and Wang, Dr Hongyi and Hahn, Dr Amanda and DeBruine, Professor Lisa and Kandrik, Dr Michal and Lee, Dr Anthony and Jones, Professor Benedict and Holzleitner, Dr Iris and lao, Mr Junpeng and Fisher, Dr Claire
• Authors: Jones, B. C., Hahn, A. C., Fisher, C. I., Wang, H., Kandrik, M., lao, J., Han, C., Lee, A. J., Holzleitner, I. J., and Debruine, L. M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience; College of Science and Engineering > School of Psychology
• Journal Name: Psychoneuroendocrinology
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0306-4530
• ISSN (Online): 1873-3360
• Published Online: 26 July 2018
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 Crown Copyright
• First Published: First published in Psychoneuroendocrinology 98: 1-5
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
60438	1	OCMATE�\200\224 Do oral contraceptives alter women�\200\231s mate preferences?	Benedict Jones	European Research Council (ERC)	OCMATE FP7ERC282655	RI NEUROSCIENCE & PSYCHOLOGY