Synonyms
Definition
A phenotypic trait that reflects underlying physiological health.
Introduction
Researchers have advanced a range of hypotheses to explain why individuals perceive some phenotypic traits as attractive. One such hypothesis is that these phenotypic traits act as cues that reveal valid information about the bearer’s underlying physiological health. Choosing healthy long-term (or even short-term) mating partners confers obvious fitness benefits. Understanding precisely what aspects of health such traits reflect is not always straightforward. Modern medicine and abundant high calorie food (at least in Western diets) has likely weakened, obscured, or even modified ancestral relationships between health and some phenotypic traits. Further complexities arise from the breadth of states (such as current nutritional state, and disease burden) and traits (MHC heterozygosity and immunocompetence) that contribute to an individual’s health.
The Evolution of...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Brierley, M.-E. E., Brooks, K. R., Mond, J., Stevenson, R. J., & Stephen, I. D. (2016). The body and the beautiful: Health, attractiveness and body composition in men’s and women’s bodies. PloS One, 11(6), e0156722.
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 B: Biological Sciences, 277(1692), 2405–2410. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2009.2184.
Foo, Y. Z., Simmons, L. W., & Rhodes, G. (2017). Predictors of facial attractiveness and health in humans. Scientific Reports, 7, 39731. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep39731.
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 B: Biological Sciences, 273(1583), 135–140. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3296.
Pound, N., Lawson, D. W., Toma, A. M., Richmond, S., Zhurov, A. I., & Penton-voak, I. S. (2014). Facial fluctuating asymmetry is not associated with childhood ill-health in a large British cohort study facial fluctuating asymmetry is not associated with childhood ill-health in a large British cohort study. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 281, 20141639. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.1639.
Rhodes, G., Zebrowitz, L. a., Clark, A., Kalick, S. M., Hightower, A., & McKay, R. (2001). Do facial averageness and symmetry signal health? Evolution and Human Behavior: Official Journal of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, 22(1), 31–46. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11182573
Scott, I. M. L., Pound, N., Stephen, I. D., Clark, A. P., & Penton-Voak, I. S. (2010). Does masculinity matter? The contribution of masculine face shape to male attractiveness in humans. PloS One, 5(10), e13585. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0013585.
Scott-Phillips, T. C. (2008). Defining biological communication. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 21(2), 387–395. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2007.01497.x.
Stephen, I. D., Coetzee, V., & Perrett, D. I. (2011). Carotenoid and melanin pigment coloration affect perceived human health. Evolution and Human Behavior, 32(3), 216–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.09.003.
Tovée, M. J., Maisey, D. S., Emery, J. L., & Cornelissen, P. L. (1999). Visual cues to female physical attractiveness. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 266(1415), 211–218. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1999.0624.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Stephen, I.D., Burke, D., Sulikowski, D. (2021). Health Cues. In: Shackelford, T.K., Weekes-Shackelford, V.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_226
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19650-3_226
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-19649-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-19650-3
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences