Van Dongen Stefan
Group of Evolutionary Ecology, University of Antwerp, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020, Antwerp, Belgium.
Ann Hum Biol. 2011 May;38(3):317-23. doi: 10.3109/03014460.2010.544676. Epub 2011 Jan 27.
Fluctuating asymmetry (FA), reflecting developmental instability (DI), may honestly signal individual quality and relate to human attractiveness and measures of sexual behaviour. The evolutionary importance of these associations, however, critically depends on the role of DI in driving these correlations. A direct effect of FA reduces the role of DI.
To explore the direct effects of FA in determining human attractiveness, comparing the strength of associations whether the asymmetries could be observed during the attractiveness ratings or not.
Literature search and meta-analysis.
This study found indications for such a direct role through stronger associations between FA and physical attractiveness when asymmetries are visible. Furthermore, a substantial publication bias emerged and correcting for it resulted in a reduction of 30-50% in effect sizes. When considering the few relatively large with sample size over 100 only, effect sizes were nearly zero.
The current literature likely overstates the evolutionary importance of asymmetry in determining human (physical) attractiveness. This study discusses the possible consequences for presumed associations between DI and human sexual behaviour and fitness.
波动不对称性（FA）反映发育不稳定性（DI），可能诚实地表明个体质量，并与人类吸引力及性行为指标相关。然而，这些关联在进化上的重要性关键取决于DI在驱动这些相关性中所起的作用。FA的直接影响降低了DI的作用。
探讨FA在决定人类吸引力方面的直接影响，比较不对称性在吸引力评分期间是否可观察到时关联强度的差异。
文献检索与荟萃分析。
本研究发现，当不对称性可见时，FA与身体吸引力之间存在更强的关联，表明存在这样一种直接作用。此外，出现了严重的发表偏倚，对其进行校正后，效应量降低了30%-50%。仅考虑少数样本量超过100的相对较大的研究时，效应量几乎为零。
当前文献可能高估了不对称性在决定人类（身体）吸引力方面的进化重要性。本研究讨论了DI与人类性行为及健康之间假定关联的可能后果。
