Women’s preference for male pupil-size: Effects of conception risk, sociosexuality and relationship status

Attractiveness in the Eyes: A Possibility of Positive Loop between Transient Pupil Constriction and Facial Attraction

Contrary to the long-held belief of a close linkage between pupil dilation and attractiveness, we found an early and transient pupil constriction response when participants viewed an attractive face (and the effect of luminance/contrast was controlled). While human participants were making an attractiveness judgment on faces, their pupil constricted more for the more attractive (as-to-be-rated) faces. Further experiments showed that the effect of pupil constriction to attractiveness judgment extended to intrinsically esthetic visual objects such as natural scene images (as well as faces) but not to line-drawing geometric figures. When participants were asked to judge the roundness of faces, pupil constriction still correlated with their attractiveness but not the roundness rating score, indicating the automaticity of the pupil constriction to attractiveness. When pupillary responses were manipulated implicitly by relative background luminance changes (from the prestimulus screen), the facial attractiveness ratings were in accordance with the amount of pupil constriction, which could not be explained solely by simultaneous or sequential luminance contrast. The overall results suggest that pupil constriction not only reflects but, as a part of self-monitoring and attribution mechanisms, also possibly contributes to facial attractiveness implicitly.

Efficacy of methods for ovulation estimation and their effect on the statistical detection of ovulation-linked behavioral fluctuations

Contention of the ovulatory shift hypothesis is principally supported by failures to replicate previous findings; e.g., recent meta-analytic work suggests that the effects endorsing the hypothesis may not be robust. Some possible limitations in this and other ovulatory-effects research-that may contribute to such controversy arising-are: (a) use of error-prone methods for assessing target periods of fertility that are thought to be associated with behavioral shifts, and (b) use of between-subjects-as opposed to within-subjects-methods. In the current study we present both simulated and empirical research: (a) comparing the ability of between- and within-subject t-tests to detect cyclical shifts; (b) evaluating the efficacy of correlating estimated fertility overlays with potential behavioral shifts; and (c) testing the accuracy of counting methods for identifying windows of cycle fertility. While this study cannot assess whether the ovulatory shift hypothesis or other ovulatory-based hypotheses are tenable, it demonstrates how low power resulting from typical methods employed in the extant literature may be associated with perceived inconsistencies in findings. We conclude that to fully address this issue greater use of within-subjects methodology is needed.

Meta-Analysis of Menstrual Cycle Effects on Women’s Mate Preferences

In evolutionary psychology predictions, women’s mate preferences shift between fertile and nonfertile times of the month to reflect ancestral fitness benefits. Our meta-analytic test involving 58 independent reports (13 unpublished, 45 published) was largely nonsupportive. Specifically, fertile women did not especially desire sex in short-term relationships with men purported to be of high genetic quality (i.e., high testosterone, masculinity, dominance, symmetry). The few significant preference shifts appeared to be research artifacts. The effects declined over time in published work, were limited to studies that used broader, less precise definitions of the fertile phase, and were found only in published research.