Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Dawida 1, 50-529, Wrocław, Poland.
Department of Human Biology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland.
Arch Sex Behav. 2021 Nov;50(8):3703-3710. doi: 10.1007/s10508-021-02012-w. Epub 2021 Oct 21.
The male beard is one of the most visually salient and sexually dimorphic traits and a hypothesized potential marker of other traits, such as dominance, masculinity, social status, and self-confidence. However, as men can easily alter their facial hair, beards may provide unreliable information about the beard owner's characteristics. Here, we examined whether beards are honest signals of biological (testosterone levels) and psychological (self-reported dominance) traits. Young (M = 21.29, SD = 1.54) and healthy men (N = 97) participated in the study. Their beards were measured directly (using digital calipers) and by self-report. Participants provided saliva samples before and after acute exercise (to assess their testosterone and cortisol levels) and reported their dominance on a 5-item scale. The results showed that beard length (directly measured and self-reported) was not related to testosterone levels or dominance; thus, no evidence was found to support the hypothesis that beards are honest (or dishonest) signals of the beard owners' testosterone levels and dominance.
男性胡须是最显著的性别二态性特征之一，也是支配力、男子气概、社会地位和自信等其他特征的潜在标志物。然而，由于男性可以轻松改变他们的面部毛发，因此胡须可能无法提供关于胡须所有者特征的可靠信息。在这里，我们研究了胡须是否是生物学（睾丸激素水平）和心理学（自我报告的支配力）特征的诚实信号。年轻（M=21.29，SD=1.54）且健康的男性（N=97）参与了这项研究。他们的胡须直接（使用数字卡尺）和自我报告进行了测量。参与者在急性运动前后提供了唾液样本（以评估他们的睾丸激素和皮质醇水平），并在 5 项量表上报告了他们的支配力。结果表明，胡须长度（直接测量和自我报告）与睾丸激素水平或支配力无关；因此，没有证据支持胡须是胡须所有者睾丸激素水平和支配力的诚实（或不诚实）信号的假设。
