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Although many researchers have suggested that more physically attractive women report less restricted sociosexual orientations (i.e., report being more willing to engage in short-term, uncommitted sexual relationships), evidence for this association is equivocal. Consequently, we tested for possible relationships between women's scores on the revised version of the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R) and women's body mass index (N = 212), waist-hip ratio (N = 213), ratings of their facial attractiveness (N = 226), and a composite attractiveness measure derived from these three intercorrelated measures. Our analyses suggest that more attractive women report less restricted sociosexual orientations. Moreover, we show that this link between attractiveness and sociosexual orientation is not simply a consequence of women's scores on the behavior subscale of the SOI-R. Importantly, however, the correlations between measures of women's physical attractiveness and their reported sociosexual orientation were very weak, suggesting that perceptions of these potential cues of women's sociosexual orientation are unlikely to provide accurate, socially relevant information about others during social interactions.

Effects of facial coloration on facial attractiveness judgments are hypothesized to be “universal” (i.e., similar across cultures). Cross-cultural similarity in facial color preferences is a critical piece of evidence for this hypothesis. However, only two studies have directly compared facial color preferences in two cultures. Both of those studies reported that White UK and Black African participants showed similar preferences for facial coloration. By contrast with the cross-cultural similarity reported in those studies, here we show cultural differences in the effects of facial coloration on Chinese and White UK participants' facial attractiveness judgments. While Chinese participants preferred faces with decreased yellowness to faces with increased yellowness, White UK participants preferred faces with increased yellowness to faces with decreased yellowness. Chinese participants also demonstrated weaker preferences for facial redness and stronger preferences for facial lightness than did White UK participants. These results suggest that preferences for facial coloration are not universal.

Putative associations between sex hormones and attractive physical characteristics in women are central to many theories of human physical attractiveness and mate choice. Although such theories have become very influential, evidence that physically attractive and unattractive women have different hormonal profiles is equivocal. Consequently, we investigated hypothesized relationships between salivary estradiol and progesterone and two aspects of women’s physical attractiveness that are commonly assumed to be correlated with levels of these hormones: facial attractiveness (N=249) and waist-to-hip ratio (N=247). Our analyses revealed no compelling evidence that women with more attractive faces or lower (i.e., more attractive) waist-to-hip ratios had higher levels of estradiol or progesterone. One analysis did suggest that women with more attractive waist-to-hip ratios had significantly higher progesterone, but the relationship was weak and the relationship not significant in other analyses. These results do not support the influential hypothesis that between-women differences in physical attractiveness are related to estradiol and/or progesterone.

Objectives Although many theories of human facial attractiveness propose positive correlations between facial attractiveness and measures of actual health, evidence for such correlations is somewhat mixed. Here we sought to replicate a recent study reporting that women's facial attractiveness is independently related to both their adiposity and cortisol. Methods Ninety-six women provided saliva samples, which were analyzed for cortisol level, and their height and weight, which were used to calculate their body mass index (BMI). A digital face image of each woman was also taken under standardized photographic conditions and rated for attractiveness. Results There was a significant negative correlation between women's facial attractiveness and BMI. By contrast, salivary cortisol and facial attractiveness were not significantly correlated. Conclusions Our results suggest that the types of health information reflected in women's faces include qualities that are indexed by BMI but do not necessarily include qualities that are indexed by cortisol. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Summary Red facial coloration is an important social cue in many primate species, including humans. In such species, the vasodilatory effects of estradiol may cause red facial coloration to change systematically during females’ ovarian cycle. Although increased red facial coloration during estrus has been observed in female mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) and rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), evidence linking primate facial color changes directly to changes in measured estradiol is lacking. Addressing this issue, we used a longitudinal design to demonstrate that red facial coloration tracks within-subject changes in women’s estradiol, but not within-subject changes in women’s progesterone or estradiol-to-progesterone ratio. Moreover, the relationship between estradiol and facial redness was observed in two independent samples of women (N = 50 and N = 65). Our results suggest that changes in facial coloration may provide cues of women’s fertility and present the first evidence for a direct link between estradiol and female facial redness in a primate species. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Studies of the sex-specificity of sexual arousal in adults (i.e., the tendency to respond more strongly to preferred-sex individuals than non-preferred sex individuals) have suggested that heterosexual men, homosexual men, and homosexual women show stronger sex-specific responses than do heterosexual women. Evidence for a similar pattern of results in studies investigating the reward value of faces is equivocal. Consequently, we investigated the effects of (1) sexual orientation (homosexual vs. heterosexual), (2) sex (male vs. female), (3) image sex (preferred-sex vs. non-preferred-sex), and (4) the physical attractiveness of the individual shown in the image on the reward value of faces. Participants were 130 heterosexual men, 130 homosexual men, 130 heterosexual women, and 130 homosexual women. The reward value of faces was assessed using a standard key-press task. Multilevel modeling of responses indicated that images of preferred-sex individuals were more rewarding than images of non-preferred-sex individuals and that this preferred-sex bias was particularly pronounced when more physically attractive faces were presented. These effects were not qualified by interactions involving either the sexual orientation or the sex of our participants, however, suggesting that the preferred-sex bias in the reward value of faces is similar in heterosexual men, homosexual men, heterosexual women, and homosexual women.

Although widely cited as strong evidence that sexual selection has shaped human facial attractiveness judgments, evidence that preferences for masculine characteristics in men’s faces are related to women’s hormonal status is equivocal and controversial. Consequently, we conducted the largest ever longitudinal study of the hormonal correlates of women’s preferences for facial masculinity (N=584). Analyses showed no compelling evidence that preferences for facial masculinity were related to changes in women’s salivary steroid hormone levels. Furthermore, both within-subject and between-subject comparisons showed no evidence that oral contraceptive use decreased masculinity preferences. However, women generally preferred masculinized over feminized versions of men’s faces, particularly when assessing men’s attractiveness for short-term, rather than long-term, relationships. Our results do not support the hypothesized link between women’s preferences for facial masculinity and their hormonal status.

Although some researchers have suggested that the interaction between cortisol and testosterone predicts ratings of men’s facial attractiveness, evidence for this pattern of results is equivocal. Consequently, the current study tested for a correlation between men’s facial attractiveness and the interaction between their cortisol and testosterone levels. We also tested for corresponding relationships between the interaction between cortisol and testosterone and ratings of men’s facial health and dominance (perceived traits that are correlated with facial attractiveness in men). We found no evidence that ratings of either facial attractiveness or health were correlated with the interaction between cortisol and testosterone. Some analyses suggested that the interaction between cortisol and testosterone levels may predict ratings of men’s facial dominance, however, with testosterone being more closely related to facial dominance ratings among men with higher cortisol. Our results suggest that the relationship between men’s facial attractiveness and the interaction between cortisol and testosterone is not robust. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s40750-017-0064-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Facial cues of adiposity play an important role in social perceptions, such as health and attractiveness judgments. Although relatively low levels of adiposity are generally associated with good health, low levels of adiposity are also a symptom of many communicable diseases. Consequently, it may be important to distinguish between individuals displaying low levels of facial adiposity because they are in good physical condition and those displaying low levels of facial adiposity because they are ill. Integrating information from facial cues of adiposity with information from other health cues, such as facial coloration, may facilitate such distinctions. Here, participants rated the health and attractiveness of face images experimentally manipulated to vary in shape cues of adiposity and color cues associated with perceived health. As we had predicted, the extent to which faces with low levels of adiposity were rated more positively than faces with relatively high levels of adiposity was greater for faces with healthy color cues than it was for faces with unhealthy color cues. Such interactions highlight the integrative processes that allow us to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy individuals during social interactions, potentially reducing the likelihood of contracting infectious diseases.

Assortative mating for adiposity, whereby levels of adiposity in romantic partners tend to be positively correlated, has implications for population health due to the combined effects of partners' levels of adiposity on fertility and/or offspring health. Although assortative preferences for cues of adiposity, whereby leaner people are inherently more attracted to leaner individuals, have been proposed as a factor in assortative mating for adiposity, there have been no direct tests of this issue. Because of this, and because of recent work suggesting that facial cues of adiposity convey information about others' health that may be particularly important for mate preferences, we tested the contribution of assortative preferences for facial cues of adiposity to assortative mating for adiposity (assessed from body mass index, BMI) in a sample of romantic couples. Romantic partners' BMIs were positively correlated and this correlation was not due to the effects of age or relationship duration. However, although men and women with leaner partners showed stronger preferences for cues of low levels of adiposity, controlling for these preferences did not weaken the correlation between partners' BMIs. Indeed, own BMI and preferences were uncorrelated. These results suggest that assortative preferences for facial cues of adiposity contribute little (if at all) to assortative mating for adiposity.

Behaviors that minimize exposure to sources of pathogens can carry opportunity costs. Consequently, how individuals resolve the tradeoff between the benefits and costs of behavioral immune responses should be sensitive to the extent to which they are vulnerable to infectious diseases. However, although it is a strong prediction of this functional flexibility principle, there is little compelling evidence that individuals with stronger physiological immune responses show weaker behavioral immune responses. Here we show that men with the combination of high testosterone and low cortisol levels, a hormonal profile recently found to be associated with particularly strong physiological immune responses, show weaker preferences for color cues associated with carotenoid pigmentation. Since carotenoid cues are thought to index vulnerability to infectious illnesses, our results are consistent with the functional flexibility principle's prediction that individuals with stronger physiological immune responses show weaker behavioral immune responses.

Research on within-subject changes in women's intrasexual competitiveness has generally focused on possible relationships between women's intrasexual competitiveness and estimates of their fertility. While this approach is useful for testing hypotheses about the adaptive function of changes in women's intrasexual competitiveness, it offers little insight into the proximate mechanisms through which such changes might occur. To investigate this issue, we carried out a longitudinal study of the hormonal correlates of changes in intrasexual competitiveness in a large sample of heterosexual women (N=136). Each woman provided saliva samples and completed an intrasexual competitiveness questionnaire in five weekly test sessions. Multilevel modeling of these data revealed a significant, positive within-subject effect of testosterone on intrasexual competitiveness, indicating that women reported greater intrasexual competitiveness when testosterone was high. By contrast, there were no significant effects of estradiol, progesterone, estradiol-to-progesterone ratio, or cortisol and no significant effects of any hormones on reported relationship jealousy. This is the first study to demonstrate correlated changes in measured testosterone levels and women's reported intrasexual competitiveness, implicating testosterone in the regulation of women's intrasexual competitiveness.

Feminine physical characteristics in women are positively correlated with markers of their mate quality. Previous research on men’s judgments of women’s facial attractiveness suggests that men show stronger preferences for feminine characteristics in women’s faces when their own testosterone levels are relatively high. Such results could reflect stronger preferences for high quality mates when mating motivation is strong and/or following success in male-male competition. Given these findings, the current study investigated whether a similar effect of testosterone occurs for men’s preferences for feminine characteristics in women’s voices. Men’s preferences for feminized versus masculinized versions of women’s and men’s voices were assessed in five weekly test sessions and saliva samples were collected in each test session. Analyses showed no relationship between men’s voice preferences and their testosterone levels. Men’s tendency to perceive masculinized men’s and women’s voices as more dominant was also unrelated to their testosterone levels. Together, the results of the current study suggest that testosterone-linked changes in responses to sexually dimorphic characteristics previously reported for men's perceptions of faces do not occur for men's perceptions of voices.

Although much of the research on human mate preference assumes that mate preference and partner choice will be related to some extent, evidence for correlations between mate preference and mate choice is mixed. Inspired by biological market theories of mate choice, which propose that individuals with greater market value will be better placed to translate their preference into choice, we investigated whether participants' own attractiveness modulated the relationship between their preference and choice. Multilevel modeling showed that experimentally assessed preferences for healthy-looking other-sex faces predicted third-party ratings of partner's facial health better among women whose faces were rated as more attractive by third parties. This pattern of results was not seen for men. These results suggest that the relationship between mate preference and mate choice may be more complex than was assumed in previous research, at least among women. Our results also highlight the utility of biological market theories for understanding the links between mate preference and partner choice.

“Baby schema” refers to infant characteristics, such as facial cues, that\ud positively influence cuteness perceptions and trigger caregiving and protective\ud behaviors in adults. Current models of hormonal regulation of parenting\ud behaviors address how hormones may modulate protective behaviors and\ud nurturance, but not how hormones may modulate responses to infant\ud cuteness. To explore this issue, we investigated possible relationships\ud between the reward value of infant facial cuteness and within-woman changes\ud in testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone levels. Multilevel modeling of\ud these data showed that infant cuteness was more rewarding when women’s\ud salivary testosterone levels were high. Moreover, this within-woman effect of\ud testosterone was independent of the possible effects of estradiol and\ud progesterone and was not simply a consequence of changes in women’s\ud cuteness perceptions. These results suggest that testosterone may modulate\ud differential responses to infant facial cuteness, potentially revealing a new\ud route through which testosterone shapes selective allocation of parental\ud resources.

Although many studies have reported that women's preferences for masculine physical characteristics in men change systematically during the menstrual cycle, the hormonal mechanisms underpinning these changes are currently poorly understood. Previous studies investigating the relationships between measured hormone levels and women's masculinity preferences tested only judgments of men's facial attractiveness. Results of these studies suggested that preferences for masculine characteristics in men's faces were related to either women's estradiol or testosterone levels. To investigate the hormonal correlates of within-woman variation in masculinity preferences further, here we measured 62 women's salivary estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone levels and their preferences for masculine characteristics in men's voices in five weekly test sessions. Multilevel modeling of these data showed that changes in salivary estradiol were the best predictor of changes in women's preferences for vocal masculinity. These results complement other recent research implicating estradiol in women's mate preferences, attention to courtship signals, sexual motivation, and sexual strategies, and are the first to link women's voice preferences directly to measured hormone levels.

The physical attractiveness of faces is positively correlated with both behavioral and neural measures of their motivational salience. Although previous work suggests that hormone levels modulate women's perceptions of others’ facial attractiveness, studies have not yet investigated whether hormone levels also modulate the motivational salience of facial characteristics. To address this issue, we investigated the relationships between within-subject changes in women's salivary hormone levels (estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, and estradiol-to-progesterone ratio) and within-subject changes in the motivational salience of attractiveness and sexual dimorphism in male and female faces. The motivational salience of physically attractive faces in general and feminine female faces, but not masculine male faces, was greater in test sessions where women had high testosterone levels. Additionally, the reward value of sexually dimorphic faces in general and attractive female faces, but not attractive male faces, was greater in test sessions where women had high estradiol-to-progesterone ratios. These results provide the first evidence that the motivational salience of facial attractiveness and sexual dimorphism is modulated by within-woman changes in hormone levels.

We thank Fleischman and Fessler (2018) for their thoughtful and constructive comments on our paper “Hormonal correlates of pathogen disgust: Testing the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis”. We agree that improving measures of both disgust sensitivity and immunocompetence may yet reveal evidence for the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis and can only strengthen work on this topic. We elaborate here on these issues and suggest some directions for future research and methodological improvements.