The vast majority of research investigating mating strategies and mate preferences focused on variation among and within women. However, there are strong theoretical reasons to expect systematic differences in men’s mating strategies and mat preferences as well. In this thesis I present four empirical chapters investigating variation in men’s mating strategies and face preferences. The first empirical chapter investigates the regional variation in men’s and women’s sociosexual orientation across US states, using improved measures of sociosexuality and multilevel modeling. I show that scarcity of female mates, but not health risks or wealth predict people’s sociosexual orientation. Women and men in states, where female mates were scarce reported being less willing to engage in uncommitted sexual relationships. In my second empirical chapter I present a study investigating the relationship between men’s hormone levels and men’s preferences for healthy color cues in faces. I show that men with the combination of high testosterone and low cortisol show the weakest preferences for yellower and darker skin; a color profile associated with carotenoid coloration. The third chapter tests for within-subject effects of hormones on men’s perceptions of vocal characteristics. I show that within-subject changes in men’s hormone levels were not associated with preferences for sexually dimorphic acoustic properties in women’s or men’s voices. In the final chapter I present a study testing for relationships between men’s facial appearance and their hormone levels and show that men’s rated facial dominance is lowest among men with high cortisol and low testosterone, but that men’s rated facial attractiveness and health are unrelated to their hormone levels.
The findings of this thesis demonstrate that there is meaningful systematic variation in men’s mating strategies at a regional level and that men’s face preferences are associated with their trait hormone levels in an adaptive fashion. I also show that previously reported within-subject hormonal modulation of femininity preferences in human faces does not occur for human voices. Lastly the results of my final experimental chapter suggest that adult hormone levels may not be as important for men’s facial appearance as previously thought
