School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
Horm Behav. 2018 Jan;97:137-144. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2017.11.006. Epub 2017 Dec 6.
According to the ovulatory shift hypothesis, women's mate preferences for male morphology indicative of competitive ability, social dominance, and/or underlying health are strongest at the peri-ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle. However, recent meta-analyses are divided on the robustness of such effects and the validity of the often-used indirect estimates of fertility and ovulation has been called into question in methodological studies. In the current study, we test whether women's preferences for men's beardedness, a cue of male sexual maturity, androgenic development and social dominance, are stronger at the peri-ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle compared to during the early follicular or the luteal phase. We also tested whether levels of estradiol, progesterone, and the estradiol to progesterone ratio at each phase were associated with facial hair preferences. Fifty-two heterosexual women completed a two-alternative forced choice preference test for clean-shaven and bearded male faces during the follicular, peri-ovulatory (validated by the surge in luteinizing hormone or the drop in estradiol levels) and luteal phases. Participants also provided for one entire menstrual cycle daily saliva samples for subsequent assaying of estradiol and progesterone. Results showed an overall preference for bearded over clean-shaven faces at each phase of the menstrual cycle. However, preferences for facial hair were not significantly different over the phases of menstrual cycle and were not significantly associated with levels of reproductive hormones. We conclude that women's preferences for men's beardedness may not be related to changes in their likelihood of conception.
根据排卵转变假说，女性对男性形态的伴侣偏好，如竞争能力、社会支配地位和/或潜在健康，在月经周期的排卵前期最强。然而，最近的荟萃分析对这些影响的稳健性存在分歧，并且经常使用的生育和排卵的间接估计的有效性在方法学研究中受到质疑。在当前的研究中，我们测试了女性对男性胡须的偏好是否在月经周期的排卵前期比在卵泡早期或黄体期更强，胡须是男性性成熟、雄激素发育和社会支配地位的标志。我们还测试了在每个阶段的雌二醇、孕酮和雌二醇与孕酮的比值是否与面部毛发偏好有关。52 名异性恋女性在卵泡期、排卵前期（通过黄体生成素的激增或雌二醇水平的下降来验证）和黄体期完成了一项关于刮脸和留胡子的男性面部的二选一强制选择偏好测试。参与者还在整个月经周期内每天提供唾液样本，以便随后分析雌二醇和孕酮。结果表明，在月经周期的每个阶段，女性对留胡子的男性面孔总体上都有偏好。然而，对毛发的偏好在月经周期的不同阶段没有显著差异，也与生殖激素水平没有显著相关。我们得出结论，女性对男性胡须的偏好可能与受孕可能性的变化无关。
