Men's preference for the ovulating female is triggered by subtle face shape differences

Bobst, Cora; Lobmaier, Janek (2012). Men's preference for the ovulating female is triggered by subtle face shape differences. Hormones and behavior, 62(4), pp. 413-417. Elsevier 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.07.008

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Recent studies have revealed that there may be perceptible cues to ovulation in humans. This study aims at extending these findings by using female faces that were shape transformed towards a late follicular (fertile) and a luteal (non-fertile) prototype. Fertile prototypes were created by averaging 25 photographs taken of females during ovulation (as determined by ovulation tests); non-fertile prototypes were created by averaging 25 photographs of the same women during the luteal phase. Twenty different (new) female faces were then shape transformed towards the luteal prototype and towards the follicular prototype in 50% and 100% steps. The two 50% transforms and the two 100% transforms were paired, resulting in stimulus pairs of two different difficulties. Thirty-six male participants were asked to choose the more attractive (Task 1), the more caring (Task 2), and the more flirtatious face (Task 3). In a final task the participants were asked to choose the woman with which the participant would have better chances to get a date (Task 4). For all tasks we found a significant preference for the follicular face. In trials with a 100% transformation towards the shape of the prototype, the preference for the follicular stimulus was significantly stronger than in trials with a 50% transformation. We conclude that subtle shape differences in faces are sufficient to trigger men's preference for a woman in her fertile cycle phase.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology > Cognitive Psychology, Perception and Methodology > Biologische Psychologie (SNF) [discontinued] 07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology 07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology > Cognitive Psychology, Perception and Methodology 10 Strategic Research Centers > Center for Cognition, Learning and Memory (CCLM)
UniBE Contributor:	Bobst, Cora, Lobmaier, Janek Simon
Subjects:	100 Philosophy > 150 Psychology
ISSN:	0018-506X
Publisher:	Elsevier
Language:	English
Submitter:	Andrea Stettler
Date Deposited:	30 May 2014 09:49
Last Modified:	02 Mar 2023 23:25
Publisher DOI:	10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.07.008
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/53228