Abstract
Body mass index (BMI) and its facial correlates influence a range of perceptions including masculinity and attractiveness. BMI conflates body fat and muscle which are sexually dimorphic because men typically have more muscle but less fat than women. We therefore investigated the influence of facial correlates of body composition (fat mass and muscle mass) on the perception of masculinity in male faces. Women have been found to prefer more masculine looking men when considering short-term relationships compared with long-term relationships. We therefore conducted a second study of heterosexual women’s preferences for facial correlates of fat and muscle mass under long and short relationship contexts. We digitally transformed face shape simulating the effects of raised and lowered levels of body fat or muscle, controlling for each other, height and age. In Study 1, participants rated masculinity of shape-transformed male faces. The face shape correlates of muscle mass profoundly enhanced perceived masculinity but the face shape correlates of fat mass only affected the perception of masculinity in underweight to low normal weight men. In Study 2, we asked two groups of women to optimize male face images (by adjusting the shape correlates of fat and muscle) to most resemble someone they would prefer, either for a short-term sexual relationship or for a long-term relationship. The results were consistent across the two participant groups: women preferred the appearance of male faces associated with a higher muscle mass for short-term compared with long-term relationships. No difference was found in women’s preference for the face shape correlates of fat mass between the two relationship contexts. These findings suggest that the facial correlates of body fat and muscle have distinct impacts on the perception of male masculinity and on women’s preferences. The findings indicate that body composition needs to be taken into consideration in psychological studies involving body weight.
Highlights
Research on women’s preference for male facial masculinity over the past two decades is marked by inconsistent findings
P = 0.665, η2 = 0.006] but a significant interaction was found between transform dimension and transform level [F(4,264) = 24.75, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.273], reflecting a greater impact of muscle transform compared with fat transform on masculinity
In interactive preferences tests where women optimized the shape of a male face, we found that there is a context shift in preferences with women preferring facial correlates of higher muscle mass for a short-term relationship compared to a long-term relationship
Summary
Research on women’s preference for male facial masculinity over the past two decades is marked by inconsistent findings. Using computer graphics techniques to manipulate masculinity in male facial shape, women show a stronger preference for facial masculinity when choosing short-term partners compared to long-term partners (Little et al, 2002; Penton-Voak et al, 2003; Jones et al, 2018). This relationship context effect was more pronounced in women with partners and not found in those taking hormonal contraception pills (Little et al, 2002). This preference for masculinity in men as short-term partners has been found with a range of stimuli and modalities, including face, body, voice, and odor (Little et al, 2011a)
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