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PSY347 Evolutionary Psych > Biology of Beauty > Flashcards

Biology of Beauty Flashcards

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1
Q

Rival hypotheses of what attractiveness is

A

“in the eye of the beholder”

determined by culture

reflects natural selection

reflects sexual selection

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2
Q

Ifants’ face preferences

A

Slater et al., 1998

  • Gaze preference paradigm
  • 14hrs old have similar preference to adults
  • no time for cultural influence - suggests innate
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3
Q

Cross-cultural attractiveness

A

Cunningham et al., 1995

  • correlations on what facial proportions are attractive
  • neonate characteristics, sexual maturity, expressiveness
  • exposure to Western media did not predict agreement
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4
Q

What is a signal of fitness?

A

A trait that shows to others that a person is healthy, has a good immune system, is free of disease e.g. pink-tinted skin is a signal of cardiovascular health

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5
Q

Symmetry and facial attractiveness

A

Related to genetic stability - asymmetry a cue to developmental insults (illness, poor nutrition in childhood…)

Little et al., 2011

  • Symmetry is universally preferred in faces

Manning et al., 1998

  • Symmetry linked to greater male sperm speed and count

Moller et al., 1995

  • Breatst asymmetry linked to no. of children/fertility

Rhodes, 2006 - smallest predictor of attractiveness - averageness, masculinity & femininity more!
Penton-Voak, 2011 - poor experimental methodology
Peters et al., 2008 - many results can’t be replicated
Suggests very weak effect of symmetry

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6
Q

Perceptual bias account for symmetry in attractive faces

A

Sasaki et al., 2005

  • Brain more active when looking at symmetrical patterns - we like looking at them

BUT

Little & Jones, 2003

  • original & inverted faces
  • symmetrised faces chosen much less when inverted - facial processing
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7
Q

Averageness

A

Galton

  • overlayed images of criminals’ faces
  • “The special villainous irregularities in the [criminals’ faces] have disappeared […]. They represent […] the man who is liable to fall into crime”

Langlois & Roggman, 1990

  • attractiveness increases with no. faces added to avg.
  • :( avg. face texture too! Effectively airbrushing
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8
Q

Averageness

Texture and shape

A

Tsankova & Kappas, 2016

  • smooth skin = better health

Rhodes et al., 1999

  • face shape avg. only - more avg. = more attractive

Rhodes et al., 2001

  • in women, facial distinctiveness = poorer current health
  • in men, facial distinctiveness linked to childhood health
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9
Q

Cross ethnicity averageness and attractiveness

A

Rhodes et al., 2001

  • increased avg.ness = increased attractiveness no matter ethnicity
  • suggests attractiveness not shaped by experience

Apicella et al., 2007

  • Hadza & European faces
  • 5 face & 20 face composites
  • Europeans prefer more avg. for both
  • Hazda prefer more avg. Hadza faces, no preference for European faces
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10
Q

Average prototypes

A

Halberstadt & Rhodes, 2003

  • We prefer average “prototypes” of many stimuli, not just faces
  • Fish, cars, Gregorian furniture!
  • These are easier to process, suggests same for faces
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11
Q

So why are average faces attractive?

A

Perceptual fluency - easier to process

Evolutionary pressures - avg. face represents best solution to adaptive problems - diverse genetics, health

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12
Q

When is the average face not the most attractive face?

A

DeBruine et al., 2007

  • avg. of most attractive faces has smaller chin, bugger eyes - is more attractive than avg. of all faces
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13
Q

Female facial attractiveness

A

Johnston & Franklin, 1993

  • Undergrad male & female P’s use program to generate ideal female faces
  • fuller lips, smaller chin, bigger eyes, smaller nasion-chin distance

Farkas, 1981

  • Most attractive nasion-chin distance is avg. for 11-yr-old girl
    • Buss, 1990 - men prefer younger faces
    • Attractive features can be exaggerated beyong actual physical dimensions
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14
Q

Female WHR

A

​Singh, 1993

  • Oestrogen stimulates fat deposits in thighs and rear, inhibits abdomen
  • Testosterone stimulates fat deposits in abdomen, inhibits thighs and rear

Wing et al., 1991

  • 0.1 unit increase in WHR –> 30% decrease in probability of conception per cycle
  • WHR linked to health! Larger WHR = poorer health
  • 0.7 best health, best fertility
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15
Q

Female WHR and attractiveness

A

Singh, 1993

  • weight of models has decreased 1920-2000 but WHR remains ~0.7

Singh 1993

  • 200 men rate attractiveness
  • across 3 weight classes, 0.7 most attractive WHR

Kerremans et al., 2010

  • mannequins with 0.7 or 0.84 WHR
  • blind men prefer 0.7, but not as much as seeing or seeing(blindfolded) men
  • suggests influence of visual media, culture
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16
Q

Male facial attractiveness

A

Penton-Voak et al., 1999

  • Attractiveness varies with menstrual cycle
  • High conception risk = more masculine preferred

Jones et al., 2019

  • No evidence for Penton-Voak!
  • Supporting studies have poor methodology
  • Masculine faces preferred for ST strategies – good health = good genes

Burt et al., 2007

  • High SOI types rate parenting skill, health, kindness, trustworthiness, youth more
  • Low SOI types rate masculinity more
17
Q

Male WHR

A

Hughes & Gallup, 2002

  • 0.9 preferred by women in men

Dijkstra & Buunk, 2001

  • shoulder-hip ratio of 0.6 preferred - greater upper body strength
18
Q

Male upper body strength

A

Apicella, 2014

  • Hadza men w/ greater upper body strength report more mating success
  • relationship mediated by hunting success
  • Hunting success is attractive - upper body strength allows men to compete intrasexually at hunting - indirect cue to male fitness
19
Q

Beauty is “in the eye of the beholder”

A

Ratings of attractiveness are systematic but individual variation exists
Predictors of this variation are adaptive

Bereczkei et al., 2009

  • P’s guess who of 4 faces is a woman’s dad having only seen a picture of her husband
  • father is man who looks most like her husband
20
Q

attractiveness and sexual selection

A

Female WHR, face attractiveness occur bc of oestrogen levels
Women with these traits more successful
Pass traits to daughters and preference to sons

Male faces indicate T levels
Sexual strategies influence kind of face women prefer
Offspring carry traits, tendency toward certain kinds of sexual strategy, preference for attractiveness

21
Q

attractiveness and sexual selection

beauty and the beast hypothesis

A

Puts, 2010

  • male traits evolved to signal dominance to other men more than attract rates
  • females exert choice, preferring somewhat reduced levels of these traits
  • males selected on cues to youth

Humans unusual in the level of choice both sexes display

PSY347 Evolutionary Psych (7 decks)

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