Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2011 Sep;36(8):1257-60. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.02.004. Epub 2011 Mar 5.
Preferences for sexually dimorphic traits in men's faces are consistent with a trade-off between cues to indirect (genetic) and direct (prosociality) benefits, associated perceptually with relative masculinity and femininity respectively. As the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) has been shown to promote social perception, we hypothesized that temporary OT elevation would result in a preference for masculinity in men's faces, by reducing the apparent social costs of masculine traits. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 96 participants received either 24 IU OT or placebo. They then completed a computer task in which they used the mouse to alter the shape of displayed men's and women's faces, making them look more or less masculine. Participants were instructed to make each face as attractive as possible. OT administration led to a trend for a relative preference for masculinity in men's faces but did not affect preferences for femininity in women's faces, and this effect occurred irrespective of the participant's sex. We tentatively speculate that OT may 'mask' negative personality attributions normally associated with masculine male faces. These results may be pointing to the role of personality attribution in attractiveness judgements, and the role of OT in social perception.
男性面部的性别二态性特征偏好与间接（遗传）和直接（亲社会性）利益线索之间的权衡一致，分别与相对的男性化和女性化有关。由于神经肽催产素（OT）已被证明可以促进社会感知，我们假设，通过降低男性特征的明显社会成本，OT 的暂时升高会导致对男性面部的男性化偏好。在一项双盲、安慰剂对照研究中，96 名参与者接受了 24IU OT 或安慰剂。然后，他们完成了一项计算机任务，在该任务中，他们使用鼠标改变显示的男性和女性面部的形状，使它们看起来更男性化或更女性化。参与者被指示使每张脸尽可能有吸引力。OT 给药导致男性面部的相对男性化偏好呈趋势，但不影响女性面部的女性化偏好，并且这种影响与参与者的性别无关。我们推测，OT 可能会“掩盖”通常与男性化男性面孔相关的负面人格归因。这些结果可能指向人格归因在吸引力判断中的作用，以及 OT 在社会感知中的作用。
