Debruine, L.M. , Jones, B.C. , Crawford, J.R., Welling, L.L.M. and Little, A.C. (2010) The health of a nation predicts their mate preferences: cross-cultural variation in women's preferences for masculinized male faces. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences, 277(1692), pp. 2405-2410. (doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.2184)
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Abstract
Recent formulations of sexual selection theory emphasize how mate choice can be affected by environmental factors, such as predation risk and resource quality. Women vary greatly in the extent to which they prefer male masculinity and this variation is hypothesized to reflect differences in how women resolve the trade-off between the costs (e.g. low investment) and benefits (e.g. healthy offspring) associated with choosing a masculine partner. A strong prediction of this trade-off theory is that women's masculinity preferences will be stronger in cultures where poor health is particularly harmful to survival. We investigated the relationship between women's preferences for male facial masculinity and a health index derived from World Health Organization statistics for mortality rates, life expectancies and the impact of communicable disease. Across 30 countries, masculinity preference increased as health decreased. This relationship was independent of cross-cultural differences in wealth or women's mating strategies. These findings show non-arbitrary cross-cultural differences in facial attractiveness judgements and demonstrate the use of trade-off theory for investigating cross-cultural variation in women's mate preferences.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | DeBruine, Professor Lisa and Jones, Professor Benedict |
| Authors: | Debruine, L.M., Jones, B.C., Crawford, J.R., Welling, L.L.M., and Little, A.C. |
| College/School: | College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience |
| Journal Name: | Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences |
| Publisher: | The Royal Society |
| ISSN: | 0962-8452 |
| ISSN (Online): | 1471-2954 |
| Published Online: | 17 March 2010 |
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