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Mating Strategies and the Masculinity Paradox: How Relationship Context, Relationship Status, and Sociosexuality Shape Women’s Preferences for Facial Masculinity and Beardedness

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Abstract

According to the dual mating strategy model, in short-term mating contexts women should forego paternal investment qualities in favor of mates with well-developed secondary sexual characteristics and dominant behavioral displays. We tested whether this model explains variation in women’s preferences for facial masculinity and beardedness in male faces. Computer-generated composites that had been morphed to appear ± 50% masculine were rated by 671 heterosexual women (M age = 31.72 years, SD = 6.43) for attractiveness when considering them as a short-term partner, long-term partner, a co-parent, or a friend. They then completed the Revised Sociosexual Inventory (SOI-R) to determine their sexual openness on dimensions of desire, behavior, and attitudes. Results showed that women’s preferences were strongest for average facial masculinity, followed by masculinized faces, with feminized faces being least attractive. In contrast to past research, facial masculinity preferences were stronger when judging for co-parenting partners than for short-term mates. Facial masculinity preferences were also positively associated with behavioral SOI, negatively with desire, and were unrelated to global or attitudinal SOI. Women gave higher ratings for full beards than clean-shaven faces. Preferences for beards were higher for co-parenting and long-term relationships than short-term relationships, although these differences were not statistically significant. Preferences for facial hair were positively associated with global and attitudinal SOI, but were unrelated to behavioral SOI and desire. Although further replication is necessary, our findings indicate that sexual openness is associated with women’s preferences for men’s facial hair and suggest variation in the association between sociosexuality and women’s facial masculinity preferences.

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Acknowledgment

This research was approved by the Human Ethics Committee at the University of Queensland (Ethics #16-PSYCH-4-62-TS). In accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, participation was voluntary and anonymous and individuals could withdraw from the study at any point. BJWD was supported by a University of Queensland Post-Doctoral Fellowship.

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  1. School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Rebecca E. Stower, Toneya L. McIntosh, Morgan J. Sidari, James M. Sherlock & Barnaby J. W. Dixson

  2. Division of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, UK

    Anthony J. Lee

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Stower, R.E., Lee, A.J., McIntosh, T.L. et al. Mating Strategies and the Masculinity Paradox: How Relationship Context, Relationship Status, and Sociosexuality Shape Women’s Preferences for Facial Masculinity and Beardedness. Arch Sex Behav 49, 809–820 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-1437-2

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