Ekrami Omid, Claes Peter, Shriver Mark D, Weinberg Seth M, Marazita Mary L, Walsh Susan, Van Dongen Stefan
Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
Department of Electrical Engineering, ESAT/PSI, KU Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium.
Adapt Human Behav Physiol. 2021 Mar;7(1):73-88. doi: 10.1007/s40750-020-00156-y. Epub 2020 Nov 12.
Studies suggest that high levels of masculinity in men can be a signal of 'better genes' as well as low parental investment. It is the trade-off between these two qualities that has led to the hypothesis that women's preferences for male masculinity are condition-dependent, yet, not all studies support this hypothesis. In addition, there is evidence that more average faces would be perceived as more attractive. Here we study the variation in masculinity preferences of a cohort of heterosexual women (n=769), using manipulated 3D faces of male subjects. We used linear mixed models to test for effects of various covariates such as relationship status, use of hormonal contraception, sociosexual orientation and self-perceived attractiveness on preference for masculinity. Our results show that women's sociosexual orientation has a positive correlation with masculinity preference while using hormonal contraception decreases this preference. None of the other covariates displayed any significant effect on masculinity preference. The initial level of masculinity of the faces (very low, low, average, high and very high) was also shown to affect this preference, where we found a significant preference for higher masculinity in the very low and average group, while no preference was found in the other groups. Our findings support the notion that condition-dependent variables have very small effects, if any, on women's preference for masculinity in men.
研究表明，男性的高度男子气概可能是“更好基因”以及低亲代投资的信号。正是这两种特质之间的权衡导致了这样一种假设，即女性对男性男子气概的偏好取决于具体情况，然而，并非所有研究都支持这一假设。此外，有证据表明，更普通的面孔会被认为更具吸引力。在此，我们使用男性受试者的3D面部模型，研究了一组异性恋女性（n = 769）对男子气概偏好的差异。我们使用线性混合模型来测试各种协变量的影响，如恋爱状况、使用激素避孕、社会性取向和自我感知的吸引力对男子气概偏好的影响。我们的结果表明，女性的社会性取向与男子气概偏好呈正相关，而使用激素避孕会降低这种偏好。其他协变量对男子气概偏好均未显示出任何显著影响。面部的初始男子气概水平（极低、低、普通、高和极高）也被证明会影响这种偏好，我们发现，在极低和普通组中，女性对更高男子气概有显著偏好，而在其他组中未发现偏好。我们的研究结果支持这样一种观点，即取决于具体情况的变量对女性对男性男子气概的偏好影响甚微（如果有影响的话）。
