Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, UK.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2010 Jul;35(6):912-20. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.12.006. Epub 2010 Jan 8.
Masculinity in male faces is thought to be a sign of mate quality and is associated with measures of long-term health. Previous studies have demonstrated that women's masculinity preferences change across the menstrual cycle with women preferring more masculine men during phases of the menstrual cycle where fertility is highest (i.e. the late follicular phase). Given the hormonal correlates of such preferences and that these hormones change across the life span, we tested for differences in female masculinity preferences at different ages. We compared the masculinity preferences of peri-pubescent girls and young adult women (Study 1), circum-menopausal women reporting to either be pre- or post-menopause (Study 2), and a large sample of women across a wide range of ages (Study 3). In all three studies, preferences for masculinity in male faces were highest in women who were at a reproductively active age. Preferences for masculinity were lower when females were peri-pubescent, post-menopausal, or at ages corresponding to these groups. These data support the notion that masculinity in male faces is an important trait for reproductively relevant mate choice decisions. These data also highlight a shift in female visual preferences for men that is associated with important stages of the lifespan. Visual preferences appear to track important hormonal changes associated with age; as women pass puberty their preferences shift towards facial traits associated with mate quality and as women undergo menopause their preferences for such facial traits decrease. Overall, these results demonstrate the important role of reproductive status and support the notion that preferences for male faces are tied to reproductively relevant hormones.
男性面孔的阳刚之气被认为是配偶质量的标志，与长期健康的衡量标准有关。先前的研究表明，女性对男性的阳刚之气偏好会随着月经周期的变化而变化，即在生育能力最高的阶段（即卵泡晚期），女性更喜欢更有男子气概的男性。鉴于这些偏好与荷尔蒙的相关性，以及这些荷尔蒙在整个生命周期中的变化，我们测试了女性在不同年龄时对男性阳刚之气的偏好是否存在差异。我们比较了青春期前女孩和年轻成年女性的阳刚之气偏好（研究 1）、报告处于绝经前期或绝经后期的围绝经期女性（研究 2）以及广泛年龄段的大量女性样本（研究 3）。在所有三项研究中，处于生育活跃年龄的女性对男性面孔的阳刚之气偏好最高。当女性处于青春期前、绝经后或与这些群体对应的年龄时，对阳刚之气的偏好较低。这些数据支持这样一种观点，即男性面孔的阳刚之气是与生殖相关的伴侣选择决策的一个重要特征。这些数据还突出了女性对男性视觉偏好的转变，这种转变与生命历程中的重要阶段有关。视觉偏好似乎与与年龄相关的重要激素变化有关；随着女性度过青春期，她们的偏好会转向与伴侣质量相关的面部特征，而当女性进入绝经期时，她们对这些面部特征的偏好会下降。总的来说，这些结果表明了生殖状态的重要作用，并支持了这样一种观点，即对男性面孔的偏好与生殖相关的激素有关。
