Evolutionary psychology and sexual dimorphism: the role of emotional expressions in male attractiveness

Há muito que a Psicologia Evolutiva tem estudado a atratividade em humanos. As três características mais estudadas pela sua desejabilidade na atratividade facial são: a simetria, a normalidade dos traços faciais e o dimorfismo sexual (ou marcadores hormonais). Sendo que as duas primeiras parecem ser suportadas pela literatura, o dimorfismo sexual tem-se mostrado alvo de dúvidas pelos resultados díspares entre os sexos. Dado que os traços faciais de dimorfismo sexual, em especial os mais masculinos, têm sido relacionados em estudos anteriores com a perceção de raiva, propomo-nos a estudar a influência das expressões emocionais nas preferências de masculinização/feminização de faces masculinas. Para isto, desenvolvemos uma tarefa interativa, em que mulheres heterossexuais puderam alterar os níveis de masculinização consoante as suas preferências de atratividade, sendo apresentadas faces masculinas que expressavam: raiva, felicidade e neutro. A nossa hipótese era que as participantes escolhessem masculinizar mais as faces com expressão de felicidade, já que isto iria contrariar a possível perceção de raiva em cara mais masculinas, em comparação com as faces neutras e com as faces com a expressão de raiva, respetivamente. No entanto, as participantes escolheram feminizar as faces independentemente da expressão emocional apresentada. Não foram encontradas diferenças significativas entre as condições, no entanto as participantes escolheram feminizar menos as caras com expressão de felicidade, indo um pouco ao encontro da nossa hipótese. Estes resultados sugerem que a relação entre a perceção de expressões emocionais e as preferências por características de dimorfismo sexual em faces masculinas é fraca ou nula

When he smiles : attractiveness preferences for male faces expressing emotions

The impact of sexual dimorphism on facial attractiveness has been controversial due to contradictory results, particularly in studies on female preferences. Given that sexually dimorphic facial features, especially more masculine ones, have been previously related to the perception of anger, we investigated the bi-directional influence of emotional expressions and facial masculinity and explored their impact on women’s preferences for facial masculinity. We confirmed the effect of facial sexual dimorphism on the perception of emotional cues (happiness and anger) and explored whether smiling or angry expressions influence women’s perception of masculinity in male faces. Additionally, we examined women's preferences for emotionally expressive male faces altered along a continuum of masculinity. Results showed that masculinized faces are perceived as angrier, while feminized faces are perceived as happier (Experiment 1), and that angry faces are perceived as more masculine when compared to happy faces (Experiment 2). Noteworthy, our Experiment 3 uncovered a pivotal finding: women prefer reduced feminization in happy faces compared to neutral/angry faces. This suggests that the avoidance response observed towards masculinity is attenuated by a smiling expression. The current study introduces a new perspective to be considered when exploring the role of facial masculinity in women’s attractiveness preferences.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Análisis del consumo domiciliar de agua en el área urbana de León por medio de series temporales

Tesis (Lic. en Estadística)-Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, LeónUNAN-Leó

When he smiles: Attractiveness Preferences for male faces expressing emotions

The impact of sexual dimorphism on facial attractiveness has been controversial due to contradictory results, particularly in studies on female preferences. Given that sexually dimorphic facial features, especially more masculine ones, have been previously related to the perception of anger, we investigated the bi-directional influence of emotional expressions and facial masculinity and explored their impact on women's preferences for facial masculinity. We confirmed the effect of facial sexual dimorphism on the perception of emotional cues (happiness and anger) and explored whether smiling or angry expressions influence women's perception of masculinity in male faces. Additionally, we examined women's preferences for emotionally expressive male faces altered along a continuum of masculinity. Results showed that masculinized faces are perceived as angrier, while feminized faces are perceived as happier (Experiment 1), and that angry faces are perceived as more masculine when compared to happy faces (Experiment 2). Noteworthy, our Experiment 3 uncovered a pivotal finding: women prefer reduced feminization in happy faces compared to neutral/angry faces. This suggests that the avoidance response observed towards masculinity is attenuated by a smiling expression. The current study introduces a new perspective to be considered when exploring the role of facial masculinity in women's attractiveness preferences