A multivariate analysis of women's mating strategies and sexual selection on men's facial morphology

Clarkson, Tessa R.; Sidari, Morgan J.; Sains, Rosanna; Alexander, Meredith; Harrison, Melissa; Mefodeva, Valeriya; Pearson, Samuel; Lee, Anthony J.; Dixson, Barnaby J.

doi:10.1098/rsos.191209

Cited by 45 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 139 publications

(260 reference statements)

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“…Part of the sex-specific facial traits was not associated with the male 2D:4D pattern both in our study, and in the studies by our colleagues conducted in Europe [ 23 , 26 ]. This indicates the existence of further mechanisms for sex-specific facial morphogenesis, such as the impact of sex hormone exposure on later stages of ontogenesis (perinatal [ 37 ], pubertal hormones [ 42 ]), allometric effects [ 65 ], genetics [ 66 , 67 ], and sexual selection [ 36 , [68] , [69] , [70] , [71] ]) to result in the observable pattern of sexual dimorphism in young adulthood. The lack of association between 2D:4D and some facial regions might cause null results in studies where only some discrete indexes or incomplete facial shapes are considered.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Second-to-fourth digit ratio and facial shape in Buryats of Southern Siberia

Rostovtseva

Mezentseva

Windhager

et al. 2020

Early Human Development

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Background The 2nd-to-4th digit ratio (2D:4D) is a putative predictor of a prenatal exposure to sex hormones. 2D:4D is sexually dimorphic (males < females). Studies, linking digit ratio and full facial shapes among Europeans, show that a low 2D:4D is associated with a set of male-specific facial features. Buryats – Mongolian people from Southern Siberia – demonstrate a different pattern of facial sexual dimorphism than Europeans (narrower and more vertically elongated faces in men as opposed to women). Aim The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between facial shape and the 2D:4D in comparison to the pattern of facial sexual dimorphism in Buryats. Subjects Buryats: 88 men and 80 women aged 20 ± 2 years. Outcome measures To assess relationship between facial shape and 2D:4D we used a geometric morphometric approach based on standardized full-face frontal photographs and direct measurements of the digit lengths among right-handed individuals. Results The results revealed that 2D:4D was associated with facial morphology in Buryat men, and to a lesser extent in women. Narrower faces, elongated in the vertical direction, and a narrower lower facial outline, were characteristic of Buryat men with low 2D:4D ratios, which corresponded to the male-like facial shapes in Buryats. Conclusions In Europeans, such facial features were reported for men with a high 2D:4D, which corresponded more to female-like European facial shapes. Hence, our results show that sex-specific morphogenesis in humans is multidirectional, and that digit ratio is capable of predicting sex-specific facial traits even in populations with differing sexually-dimorphic morphology.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Second-to-fourth digit ratio and facial shape in Buryats of Southern Siberia

Rostovtseva

Mezentseva

Windhager

et al. 2020

Early Human Development

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“…This is usually explained by a number of evolutionary, physiological, and cultural reasons. Among them are an ancestral impact and adaptations related to sexual dimorphism in general body size (the consequence of concomitant energetics and allometric effects) (Holton, Yokley, Froehle, & Southard, 2014; Lockwood, 1999; Mitteroecker, Gunz, Windhager, & Schaefer, 2013; O'Higgins, Moore, Johnson, McAndrew, & Flinn, 1990; Weston, Friday, Johnstone, & Schrenk, 2004; Weston, Friday, & Liò, 2007), effects of the exposure to sex hormones (testosterone, estrogens) (Bardin & Catterall, 1981; Fink et al, 2005; Law Smith et al, 2006; Lefevre, Lewis, Perrett, & Penke, 2013; Marečková et al, 2015; Meindl, Windhager, Wallner, & Schaefer, 2012; Schaefer, Fink, Mitteroecker, Neave, & Bookstein, 2005; Verdonck, Gaethofs, Carels, & de Zegher, 1999; Whitehouse et al, 2015), and the consequences of sexual selection (Clarkson et al, 2020; Darwin, 1871; Jones et al, 1995; Perrett et al, 1998; Weston et al, 2007), which in turn is widely dependent on ecological (Dixson, Little, Dixson, & Brooks, 2017) and cultural features (Laland, 1994, 2008). In human populations worldwide, absolute sizes of facial heights and widths (estimated from the frontal full‐face perspective both by craniometric and soft‐tissue morphometric techniques) on average are larger in men, than in women (some minor deviations are sometimes detected, but their scope is negligible) (Alexeev & Gohman, 1984; Balueva & Veselovskaya, 1989; Brown & Barrett, 1964; Farkas, Katic, & Forrest, 2005; Kasai, Richards, & Brown, 1993; Liu, Kau, Talbert, & Pan, 2014; Mamonova, 1961; Tanikawa, Zere, & Takada, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual dimorphism in facial shape of modern Buryats of Southern Siberia

Rostovtseva

Mezentseva

Windhager

et al. 2020

American J Hum Biol

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Objectives The aim of the present study was to investigate sexual dimorphism in the full facial shape of modern Buryats—people of Southern Siberia of Mongolian origin. Methods For this purpose, we have used geometric morphometrics based on standardized full‐face frontal photographs. This allowed us to assess and visualize differences in facial shapes between Buryat men (n = 98) and women (n = 89). To specify the facial areas, where the differences occurred, we have complemented our analysis with standard anthropometric facial parameters based on approximations to the craniofacial and mandibular landmarks and soft‐tissue morphology of specific facial areas. Results Our results revealed that Buryat women have a set of sexually dimorphic features similar to those reported earlier for other Asian populations (a relatively wider and vertically shorter lower face, more round visible areas of the eyes, relatively narrower noses, smaller mouths, larger [in vertical dimension] foreheads, and relatively thinner upper lips, when compared to Buryat males). At the same time, Buryat women had a specific characteristic, distinguishing them from other world populations—a significantly higher upper face width‐to‐height ratio (fWHR) compared to males. This indicates that the high fWHR is not a universally male feature in humans, which raises a question of underlying developmental mechanisms. Conclusions Our results clearly demonstrate that some elements of sexually dimorphic facial shapes may differ across populations with different genetic and ecological backgrounds, and suggest that universal mechanisms of sex‐specific facial morphogenesis still need to be clarified in the future.

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“…In Cameroon, Colombia, and Turkey, male-like sexually dimorphic facial shapes were rated as more masculine. While other attributes, such as skin colouration (Caritto et al, 2016), contrast between facial features and skin (Stephen & McKeegan, 2010), or facial hair (Clarkson et al, 2020;Dixson et al, 2017a) were beyond the scope of this study, they may affect perception of sexual dimorphism and attractiveness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Cues for facial attractiveness and preference of sexual dimorphism: A comparison across five cultures

Fiala¹,

Třebický²,

Jd³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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It has been hypothesised that the strength of association between sex typicality and attractiveness follows an adaptive pattern across cultures. Such pattern allows for adjustment of individual preferences for facial cues associated with direct (parenting) and indirect (biological quality) benefits from mating with a potential mate according to environmental conditions. To test this hypothesis, we examined associations among intra-culturally perceived sex typicality, attractiveness, measured skin lightness, measured averageness, and sexual dimorphism of shape from facial images, while controlling for age, body mass, and facial width, in five distinct cultures with different environmental and socioeconomic conditions (Cameroon, N of facial stimuli = 200, 100 women; Colombia, N = 138, 66 women; Czechia, N = 100, 50 women; Iran, N = 87, 43 women; and Turkey, N = 185, 93 women). Our results suggest that measured sexual shape dimorphism and averageness are not significantly associated with neither perceived sex typicality nor attractiveness across the cultures. In all samples of female faces, however, perceived sex typicality was positively related to facial attractiveness. Women found perceived sex typicality in men as more attractive only in the Czech environment, with its relatively abundant resources, and in Colombia, which is a highly socioeconomically heterogeneous and competitive culture. Lighter skin raised the ratings of both attractiveness and sex typicality only in Cameroonian women. Darker men were perceived significantly more sex-typical but not more attractive in Cameroonian, Colombian, and Iranian samples. Altogether, our results highlight the need to control for which measure of sexual dimorphism is used (perceived or measured) and make a detailed description of the local environment. It is the perceived, rather than measured, sexual dimorphism that is associated with perceived attractiveness, and wealth distribution, rather than public, health that seems to affect masculinity preferences.

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A multivariate analysis of women's mating strategies and sexual selection on men's facial morphology

Abstract: Cite this article: Clarkson TR, Sidari MJ, Sains R, Alexander M, Harrison M, Mefodeva V, Pearson S, Lee AJ, Dixson BJW. 2020 A multivariate analysis of women's mating strategies and sexual selection on men's facial morphology. R. Soc. open sci. 7: 191209. http://dx.

Cited by 45 publications

References 139 publications

Second-to-fourth digit ratio and facial shape in Buryats of Southern Siberia

Second-to-fourth digit ratio and facial shape in Buryats of Southern Siberia

Sexual dimorphism in facial shape of modern Buryats of Southern Siberia

Cues for facial attractiveness and preference of sexual dimorphism: A comparison across five cultures

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