Abstract
Many researchers have proposed that straight men prefer women's faces displaying feminine shape characteristics at least partly because mating with such women will produce healthier offspring. Although a prediction of this adaptation-for-mate-choice hypothesis is that straight men will show stronger preferences for feminized versus masculinized versions of women's faces than will gay men, only one previous study has directly tested this prediction. Here we directly replicated that study by comparing 623 gay and 3163 straight men's preferences for feminized versus masculinized versions of faces. Consistent with the adaptation-for-mate-choice hypothesis of straight men's femininity preferences, we found that straight men showed significantly stronger preferences for feminized female faces than did gay men. Consistent with previous research suggesting that gay men place a premium on masculinity in potential romantic partners, we also found that gay men showed significantly stronger preferences for masculinized versions of male faces than did straight men. Together, these findings indicate the sexual orientation contributes to individual differences in men's face preferences.
Highlights
Many studies of straight men’s face preferences have reported that straight men show strong preferences for female faces with pronounced feminine shape characteristics [1, 2]
50% of the linear differences in 2D shape between symmetrized versions of the male and female prototypes were added to or subtracted from face images of 20 young White male adults and 20 young White female adults. This process created masculinized and feminized versions of the individual face images that differ in sexual dimorphism of 2D shape and that are matched in other regards
We included participant age as a covariate to control for possible effects of age on face preferences [15]
Summary
Many studies of straight men’s face preferences have reported that straight men show strong preferences for female faces with pronounced feminine shape characteristics [1, 2]. If straight men show strong preferences for feminized versions of women’s faces because mating with such women would produce healthier or more viable offspring, one might reasonably predict that gay men’s preferences for feminized versions of women’s faces would be weaker than those of straight men. Such results would complement those showing oppositesex biases in straight participants’ face preferences, which have been widely interpreted as evidence that face preferences at least partly reflect adaptations for mate choice [1, 3]. Following Glassenberg et al, we predicted that straight men would show stronger preferences for femininity in women’s faces than gay men did and that gay men would show stronger preferences for masculinity in men’s faces than straight men did
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