Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Agreement and Individual Differences in Men’s Preferences for Women’s Facial Characteristics

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Sexual Psychology and Behavior

Part of the book series: Evolutionary Psychology ((EVOLPSYCH))

Abstract

Much of the work on the importance of facial attractiveness judgments in human sexual behavior has focused on women’s preferences for characteristics in men’s faces that are thought to be associated with health, personality, and/or status. However, a large body of evidence now suggests that preferences for characteristics in women’s faces influence men’s mate preferences. This chapter will review some of this research, focusing on (1) the role of facial cues associated with health and fertility in men’s judgments of women’s facial attractiveness and (2) some recent examples of systematic variation in the strength of men’s preferences for these cues.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    As is also the case for body attractiveness (e.g., Tovee et al., 1999), appearing to be very underweight is also unattractive, however (Coetzee, Perrett, & Stephen, 2009).

References

  • Apicella, C. L., Little, A. C., & Marlowe, F. W. (2007). Facial averageness and attractiveness in an isolated population of hunter-gatherers. Perception, 36, 1813–1820.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bleske-Rechek, A., Harris, H. D., Denkinger, K., Webb, R. M., Erickson, L., & Nelson, L. A. (2011). Physical cues of ovulatory status: A failure to replicate enhanced facial attractiveness and reduced waist-to-hip ratio at high fertility. Evolutionary Psychology, 9, 336–353.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bobst, C., & Lobmaier, J. S. (2012). Men’s preference for the ovulating female is triggered by subtle face shape differences. Hormones & Behavior, 62(4), 413–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burriss, R. P., Roberts, S. C., Welling, L. L. M., Puts, D. A., & Little, A. C. (2011). Heterosexual romantic couples mate assortatively for facial symmetry, but not masculinity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 601–613.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burriss, R. P., Welling, L. L. M., & Puts, D. A. (2011). Mate preference drives mate-choice: Men’s self-rated masculinity predicts their female partner’s preference for masculinity. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 1023–1027.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coetzee, V., Chen, J., Perrett, D. I., & Stephen, I. D. (2010). Deciphering faces: Quantifiable visual cues to weight. Perception, 39, 51–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coetzee, V., Faerber, S. J., Greeff, J. M., Lefevre, C. E., Re, D. E., & Perrett, D. I. (2012). African perceptions of female attractiveness. PLoS One, 7, e48116.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coetzee, V., Perrett, D. I., & Stephen, I. D. (2009). Facial adiposity: A cue to health? Perception, 38, 1700–1711.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conway, C. A., Jones, B. C., DeBruine, L. M., & Little, A. C. (2008). Evidence for adaptive design in human gaze preference. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 275, 63–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conway, C. A., Jones, B. C., DeBruine, L. M., Little, A. C., Hay, J., Welling, L. L. M., et al. (2008). Integrating physical and social cues when forming face preferences: Differences among low and high anxiety individuals. Social Neuroscience, 3, 89–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornwell, R. E., Boothroyd, L. G., Burt, D. M., Feinberg, D. R., Jones, B. C., Little, A. C., et al. (2004). Concordant preferences for opposite-sex signals? Human pheromones and facial characteristics. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 271, 635–640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham, M. R., Roberts, A. R., Barbee, A. P., Druen, P. B., & Wu, C.-H. (1995). Their ideas of beauty are, on the whole, the same as ours: Consistency and variability in the cross-cultural perception of female physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 261–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curtis, V., Aunger, R., & Rabie, T. (2004). Evidence that disgust evolved to protect from risk of disease. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 271, S131–S133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Barra, M., DeBruine, L. M., Jones, B. C., Mahmud, Z. H., & Vurtis, V. A. (2013). Illness in childhood predicts face preferences in adulthood. Evolution and Human Behavior, 34(6), 384–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeBruine, L. M. (2013). Evidence versus speculation on the validity of methods for measuring masculinity preferences: Comment on Scott et al. Behavioral Ecology, 24(3), 591–593.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeBruine, L. M., Jones, B. C., Crawford, J. R., Welling, L. L. M., & Little, A. C. (2010). The health of a nation predicts their mate preferences: Cross-cultural variation in women’s preferences for masculinized male faces. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 277, 2405–2410.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeBruine, L. M., Jones, B. C., Little, A. C., Boothroyd, L. G., Perrett, D. I., Penton-Voak, I. S., et al. (2006). Correlated preferences for facial masculinity and ideal or actual partner’s masculinity. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 273, 1355–1360.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeBruine, L. M., Jones, B. C., Tybur, J. M., Lieberman, D., & Griskevicius, V. (2010). Women’s preferences for masculinity in male faces are predicted by pathogen disgust, but not by moral or sexual disgust. Evolution and Human Behavior, 31, 69–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enquist, M., Ghirlanda, S., Lundqvist, D., & Wachtmeister, C. A. (2002). An ethological theory of attractiveness. In G. Rhodes & L. A. Zebrowitz (Eds.), Facial attractiveness: Evolutionary, cognitive and social perspectives (pp. 27–153). Westport, CT: Ablex.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fink, B., Grammer, K., & Thornhill, R. (2001). Human (Homo sapiens) facial attractiveness in relation to skin texture and color. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 115, 92–99.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fink, B., & Penton-Voak, I. S. (2002). Evolutionary psychology of facial attractiveness. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 154–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fraccaro, P. J., Feinberg, D. R., DeBruine, L. M., Little, A. C., Watkins, C. D., & Jones, B. C. (2010). Correlated male preferences for femininity in female faces and voices. Evolutionary Psychology, 8, 447–461.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fumagalli, M., Sironi, M., Pozzoli, U., Ferrer-Admettla, A., Pattini, L., & Nielsen, R. (2011). Signatures of environmental genetic adaptation pinpoint pathogens as the main selective pressure through human evolution. PLoS Genetics, 7, e1002355.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grammer, K., & Thornhill, R. (1994). Human (Homo sapiens) facial attractiveness and sexual selection: The role of symmetry and averageness. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 108, 233–242.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, A. W., & Boothroyd, L. G. (2012). Female facial appearance and health. Evolutionary Psychology, 10, 66–77.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Halberstadt, J., & Rhodes, G. (2000). The attractiveness of non-face averages: Implications for an evolutionary explanation of the attractiveness of average faces. Psychological Science, 11, 285–289.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Haselton, M. G., & Gildersleeve, K. (2011). Can men detect ovulation? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 87–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haselton, M. G., Mortezaie, M., Pillsworth, E. G., Bleske-Recheck, A. E., & Frederick, D. A. (2007). Ovulation and human female ornamentation: Near ovulation, women dress to impress. Hormones and Behavior, 51, 40–45.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, J. J. A., & Anglin, J. M. (2003). Facial attractiveness predicts longevity. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24, 351–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jasienska, G., Ziomkiewicz, A., Ellison, P. T., Lipson, S. F., & Thune, I. (2004). Large breasts and narrow waists indicate reproductive potential in women. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 271(1545), 1213–1217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, R., White, D., Van Montfort, X., & Burton, A. M. (2011). Variability in photos of the same face. Cognition, 121, 313–323.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, B. C., DeBruine, L. M., & Little, A. C. (2007). The role of symmetry in attraction to average faces. Perception & Psychophysics, 69, 1273–1277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, B. C., DeBruine, L. M., Little, A. C., Conway, C. A., & Feinberg, D. R. (2006). Integrating gaze direction and expression in preferences for attractive faces. Psychological Science, 17, 588–591.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, B. C., Feinberg, D. R., DeBruine, L. M., Little, A. C., & Vukovic, J. (2010). A domain-specific opposite-sex bias in human preferences for manipulated voice pitch. Animal Behaviour, 79, 57–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, B. C., Feinberg, D. R., Watkins, C. D., Fincher, C. L., Little, A. C., & DeBruine, L. M. (2013). Pathogen disgust predicts women’s preferences for masculinity in men’s voices, faces, and bodies. Behavioral Ecology, 24, 373–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, B. C., Fincher, C. L., Welling, L. L. M., Little, A. C., Feinberg, D. R., Watkins, C. D., et al. (2013). Salivary cortisol and pathogen disgust predict men’s preferences for feminine shape cues in women’s faces. Biological Psychology, 92(2), 233–240.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, B. C., Little, A. C., Penton-Voak, I. S., Tiddeman, B. P., Burt, D. M., & Perrett, D. I. (2001). Facial symmetry and judgements of apparent health: Support for a ‘good genes’ explanation of the attractiveness-symmetry relationship. Evolution and Human Behavior, 22, 417–429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, B. C., Little, A. C., Watkins, C. D., Welling, L. L. M., & DeBruine, L. M. (2011). Reported sexual desire predicts men’s preferences for sexually dimorphic cues in women’s faces. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 1281–1285.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, B. C., Perrett, D. I., Little, A. C., Boothroyd, L. G., Cornwell, R. E., Feinberg, D. R., et al. (2005). Menstrual cycle, pregnancy and oral contraceptive use alter attraction to apparent health in faces. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 272, 347–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalick, S. M., Zebrowitz, L. A., Langlois, J. H., & Johnson, R. M. (1998). Does human facial attractiveness honestly advertise health? Longitudinal data on an evolutionary question. Psychological Science, 9, 8–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kampe, K. K., Frith, C. D., Dolan, R. J., & Frith, U. (2001). Reward value of attractiveness and gaze. Nature, 413, 589.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koehler, N., Simmons, L. W., Rhodes, G., & Peters, M. (2004). The relationship between sexual dimorphism in human faces and fluctuating asymmetry. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 271, S233–S236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Law Smith, M. J., Deady, D. K., Moore, F. R., Jones, B. C., Cornwell, R. E., Stirrat, M. R., et al. (2012). Maternal tendencies in women are associated with estrogen levels and facial femininity. Hormones and Behavior, 61, 12–16.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Law Smith, M. J., Perrett, D. I., Jones, B. C., Cornwell, R. E., Moore, F. R., Feinberg, D. R., et al. (2006). Facial appearance is a cue to oestrogen levels in women. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 273, 135–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lie, H. C., Rhodes, G., & Simmons, L. W. (2008). Genetic diversity revealed in human faces. Evolution, 62, 2473–2486.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Little, A. C., Apicella, C. L., & Marlowe, F. W. (2007). Preferences for symmetry in human faces in two cultures: Data from the UK and the Hadza, an isolated group of hunter-gatherers. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 274, 3113–3117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, A. C., Burt, D. M., & Perrett, D. I. (2006). Assortative mating for perceived personality in faces. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 973–984.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, A. C., DeBruine, L. M., & Jones, B. C. (2011). Exposure to visual cues of pathogen contagion changes preferences for masculinity and symmetry in opposite-sex faces. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 278, 2032–2039.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, A. C., & Hancock, P. J. (2002). The role of masculinity and distinctiveness on the perception of attractiveness in human male faces. British Journal of Psychology, 93, 451–464.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Little, A. C., & Jones, B. C. (2003). Evidence against perceptual bias views for symmetry preferences in human faces. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 279, 1759–1763.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, A. C., & Jones, B. C. (2006). Attraction independent of detection suggests special mechanisms for symmetry preferences in human face perception. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 273, 3093–3099.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, A. C., Jones, B. C., & DeBruine, L. M. (2011). Facial attractiveness: Evolutionary based research. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 366, 1638–1659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Main, J. C., DeBruine, L. M., Little, A. C., & Jones, B. C. (2010). Interactions among the effects of head orientation, emotional expression and physical attractiveness on face preferences. Perception, 39, 62–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, L. B. (2009). Stress and immunity in wild vertebrates: Timing is everything. General and Comparative Endocrinology, 163, 70–76.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mason, M. F., Tatkow, E. P., & Macrae, C. N. (2005). The look of love—Gaze shifts and person perception. Psychological Science, 16, 236–239.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, G. F., & Todd, P. M. (1998). Mate choice turns cognitive. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2, 190–198.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Toole, A. J., Price, T., Vetter, T., Bartlett, J. C., & Blanz, V. (1999). 3D shape and 2D surface textures of human faces: The role of “averages” in attractiveness and age. Image & Vision Computing, 18, 9–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Penton-Voak, I. S. (2011). In retreat from nature? Successes and concerns in Darwinian approaches to facial attractiveness. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 1, 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penton-Voak, I. S., & Perrett, D. I. (2001). Male facial attractiveness: Perceived personality and shifting female preferences for male traits across the menstrual cycle. Advances in Animal Behaviour, 30, 219–259.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perrett, D. I., Burt, D. M., Penton-Voak, I. S., Lee, K. J., Rowland, D. A., & Edwards, R. (1999). Symmetry and human facial attractiveness. Evolution and Human Behavior, 20, 295–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perrett, D. I., Lee, K. J., Penton-Voak, I. S., Rowland, D. R., Yoshikawa, S., Burt, D. M., et al. (1998). Effects of sexual dimorphism on facial attractiveness. Nature, 394, 884–887.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perrett, D. I., May, K. A., & Yoshikawa, S. (1994). Facial shape and judgments of female attractiveness. Nature, 368, 239–242.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Puts, D. A., Bailey, D. H., Cárdenas, R. A., Burriss, R. P., Welling, L. L. M., Wheatley, J. R., et al. (2013). Women’s attractiveness changes with estradiol and progesterone across the ovulatory cycle. Hormones and Behavior, 63(1), 13–19.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reither, E. N., Hauser, R. M., & Swallen, K. C. (2009). Predicting adult health and mortality from adolescent facial characteristics in yearbook photographs. Demography, 46, 27–41.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, G. (2006). The evolutionary psychology of facial beauty. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 199–226.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, G., Chan, J., Zebrowitz, L. A., & Simmons, L. W. (2003). Does sexual dimorphism in human faces signal health? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 270, S93–S95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, G., Simmons, L. W., & Peters, M. (2005). Attractiveness and sexual behaviour: Does attractiveness enhance mating success? Evolution and Human Behavior, 26, 186–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, G., & Tremewan, T. (1996). Averageness, exaggeration and facial attractiveness. Psychological Science, 7, 105–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, G., Yoshikawa, S., Palermo, R., Simmons, L. W., Peters, M., Lee, K., et al. (2007). Perceived health contributes to the attractiveness of facial symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism. Perception, 36, 1244–1252.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, G., Zebrowitz, L., Clark, A., Kalick, S. M., Hightower, A., & McKay, R. (2001). Do facial averageness and symmetry signal health? Evolution and Human Behavior, 22, 31–46.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, S. C., Havlíček, J., Flegr, J., Hruskova, M., Little, A. C., Jones, B. C., et al. (2004). Female facial attractiveness increases during the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 271, 270–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sapolsky, R. M., Romero, L. M., & Munck, A. U. (2000). How do glucocorticoids influence stress responses? Integrating permissive, suppressive, stimulatory, and preparative actions. Endocrine Reviews, 21, 55–89.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, T. M., Hecht, H., & Carbon, C.-C. (2012). Judging body weight from faces: The height-weight illusion. Perception, 41, 12–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, I. M. L., Clark, A. P., Boothroyd, L. G., & Penton-Voak, I. S. (2013). Do men’s faces really signal heritable immunocompetence? Behavioral Ecology, 24(3), 596–597.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, I. M., & Penton-Voak, I. S. (2011). The validity of composite photographs for assessing masculinity preferences. Perception, 40, 323–331.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Scott, I. M., Swami, V., Josephson, S. C., & Penton-Voak, I. S. (2008). Context-dependent preferences for facial dimorphism in a rural Malaysian population. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29, 289–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, F. G., Jones, B. C., DeBruine, L. M., & Little, A. C. (2009). Interactions between masculinity-femininity and apparent health in face preferences. Behavioral Ecology, 20, 441–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thornhill, R., & Gangestad, S. W. (1999). Facial attractiveness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 3, 452–460.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thornhill, R., & Gangestad, S. W. (2006). Facial sexual dimorphism, developmental stability, and susceptibility to disease in men and women. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27, 131–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinlin, R. M., Watkins, C. D., Welling, L. L. M., DeBruine, L. M., Al-Dujaili, E. A. S., & Jones, B. C. (2013). Perceived facial adiposity conveys information about women’s health. British Journal of Psychology, 104(2), 235–248.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tovee, M. J., Maisey, D. S., Emery, J. L., & Cornelissen, P. L. (1999). Visual cues to female physical attractiveness. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B, 266, 211–2118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tybur, J. M., Lieberman, D., & Griskevicius, V. (2009). Microbes, mating, and morality: Individual differences in three functional domains of disgust. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 103–122.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, C. D., DeBruine, L. M., Little, A. C., & Jones, B. C. (2012). Social support influences preferences for feminine facial cues in potential social partners. Experimental Psychology, 59, 340–347.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Welling, L. L. M., Jones, B. C., & DeBruine, L. M. (2008). Sex drive is positively associated with women’s preferences for sexual dimorphism in men’s and women’s faces. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 161–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Welling, L. L. M., Jones, B. C., DeBruine, L. M., Smith, F. G., Feinberg, D. R., Little, A. C., et al. (2008). Men report stronger attraction to femininity in women’s faces when their testosterone levels are high. Hormones and Behavior, 54, 703–708.

    Google Scholar 

  • Welling, L. L. M., Singh, K., Puts, D. A., Jones, B. C., & Burriss, R. P. (2013). Self-reported sexual desire in homosexual men and women predicts preferences for sexually dimorphic facial cues. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42, 785–791.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Winkielman, P., Halberstadt, J., Fazendeiro, T., & Catty, S. (2006). Prototypes are attractive because they are easy on the mind. Psychological Science, 17, 799–807.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

BCJ’s research on human mate preferences is supported by European Research Council Starting Grant 282655 (OCMATE).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK

    Benedict C. Jones

Authors
  1. Benedict C. Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Benedict C. Jones .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Jones, B.C. (2014). Agreement and Individual Differences in Men’s Preferences for Women’s Facial Characteristics. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Sexual Psychology and Behavior. Evolutionary Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0314-6_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation