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Catena TM, Simmons ZL, Roney JR. Do women's faces become more attractive near ovulation? Horm Behav 2019; 115:104560. [PMID: 31310761 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2019] [Revised: 07/08/2019] [Accepted: 07/12/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
There have been mixed findings regarding whether raters judge women's natural faces more attractive when the women were photographed near ovulation relative to when photographed in other cycle regions. Bobst and Lobmaier (2012) isolated shape cues associated with ovulatory timing via computer morphing techniques and found that men judged face shapes characteristic of the fertile window as more attractive than those characteristic of the luteal phase. Here, we tested replication of their findings but also added stimuli from the early follicular phase. We constructed three composite faces constructed from photos of the same 23 women who had each been photographed in the early follicular phase, during the fertile window, and during the luteal phase. We next warped 20 other identity faces to the shapes of the composite faces representing each cycle phase, and asked male participants to rank order the resulting face triplets for attractiveness. Men ranked fertile window and luteal phase stimuli as more attractive than early follicular stimuli, but ranked fertile window and luteal phase faces as equally attractive. This result failed to replicate preferences for fertile window over luteal phase stimuli, and thereby argues against perceivers' ability to detect face shape cues of immediate fecundity. Because estradiol was lower in the early follicular phase relative to the other two cycle phases, our findings are consistent with the possibility that within-women increases in estradiol produce subtle increases in face shape attractiveness. Discussion addresses the overall evidence for facial cues of women's ovulatory timing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tikal M Catena
- University of California, Santa Barbara, United States of America
| | - Zachary L Simmons
- University of California, Santa Barbara, United States of America; University of Portland, United States of America
| | - James R Roney
- University of California, Santa Barbara, United States of America.
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Sexual Incentive and Choice. CURRENT SEXUAL HEALTH REPORTS 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s11930-018-0158-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Rowland HM, Burriss RP. Human colour in mate choice and competition. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 372:rstb.2016.0350. [PMID: 28533465 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/02/2017] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The colour of our skin and clothing affects how others perceive us and how we behave. Human skin colour varies conspicuously with genetic ancestry, but even subtle changes in skin colour due to diet, blood oxygenation and hormone levels influence social perceptions. In this review, we describe the theoretical and empirical frameworks in which human colour is researched. We explore how subtle skin colour differences relate to judgements of health and attractiveness. Also, because humans are one of the few organisms able to manipulate their apparent colour, we review how cosmetics and clothing are implicated in courtship and competition, both inside the laboratory and in the real world. Research on human colour is in its infancy compared with human psychophysics and colour research in non-human animals, and hence we present best-practice guidelines for methods and reporting, which we hope will improve the validity and reproducibility of studies on human coloration.This article is part of the themed issue 'Animal coloration: production, perception, function and application'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah M Rowland
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK .,Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London NW1 4RY, UK
| | - Robert P Burriss
- Faculty of Psychology, Basel University, Basel 4055, Switzerland
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Hansen S, McAuliffe J, Goldfarb B, Carré JM. Testosterone influences volitional, but not reflexive orienting of attention in human males. Physiol Behav 2017; 175:82-87. [DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.03.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2016] [Revised: 03/01/2017] [Accepted: 03/23/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Lobmaier JS, Bobst C, Probst F. Can women detect cues to ovulation in other women's faces? Biol Lett 2017; 12:20150638. [PMID: 26814224 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent research suggests that men find portraits of ovulatory women more attractive than photographs of the same women taken during the luteal phase. Only few studies have investigated whether the same is true for women. The ovulatory phase matters to men because women around ovulation are most likely to conceive, and might matter to women because fertile women might pose a reproductive threat. In an online study 160 women were shown face pairs, one of which was assimilated to the shape of a late follicular prototype and the other to a luteal prototype, and were asked to indicate which face they found more attractive. A further 60 women were tested in the laboratory using a similar procedure. In addition to choosing the more attractive face, these participants were asked which woman would be more likely to steal their own date. Because gonadal hormones influence competitive behaviour, we also examined whether oestradiol, testosterone and progesterone levels predict women's choices. The women found neither the late follicular nor the luteal version more attractive. However, naturally cycling women with higher oestradiol levels were more likely to choose the ovulatory woman as the one who would entice their date than women with lower oestradiol levels. These results imply a role of oestradiol when evaluating other women who are competing for reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janek S Lobmaier
- Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, Bern 3012, Switzerland Center for Cognition, Learning, and Memory, University of Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, Bern 3012, Switzerland
| | - Cora Bobst
- Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, Bern 3012, Switzerland
| | - Fabian Probst
- Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, Bern 3012, Switzerland Center for Cognition, Learning, and Memory, University of Bern, Fabrikstrasse 8, Bern 3012, Switzerland
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Burriss RP, Troscianko J, Lovell PG, Fulford AJC, Stevens M, Quigley R, Payne J, Saxton TK, Rowland HM. Changes in Women's Facial Skin Color over the Ovulatory Cycle are Not Detectable by the Human Visual System. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0130093. [PMID: 26134671 PMCID: PMC4489916 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2014] [Accepted: 05/15/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Human ovulation is not advertised, as it is in several primate species, by conspicuous sexual swellings. However, there is increasing evidence that the attractiveness of women's body odor, voice, and facial appearance peak during the fertile phase of their ovulatory cycle. Cycle effects on facial attractiveness may be underpinned by changes in facial skin color, but it is not clear if skin color varies cyclically in humans or if any changes are detectable. To test these questions we photographed women daily for at least one cycle. Changes in facial skin redness and luminance were then quantified by mapping the digital images to human long, medium, and shortwave visual receptors. We find cyclic variation in skin redness, but not luminance. Redness decreases rapidly after menstrual onset, increases in the days before ovulation, and remains high through the luteal phase. However, we also show that this variation is unlikely to be detectable by the human visual system. We conclude that changes in skin color are not responsible for the effects of the ovulatory cycle on women's attractiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert P. Burriss
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle, NE1 8ST, United Kingdom
| | - Jolyon Troscianko
- Centre for Ecology & Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, TR10 9FE, United Kingdom
| | - P. George Lovell
- Division of Psychology, Abertay University, Dundee, DD1 1HG, United Kingdom
- School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9JP, United Kingdom
| | - Anthony J. C. Fulford
- MRC International Nutrition Group, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, WC1E 7HT, United Kingdom
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom
| | - Martin Stevens
- Centre for Ecology & Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, TR10 9FE, United Kingdom
| | - Rachael Quigley
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom
| | - Jenny Payne
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom
| | - Tamsin K. Saxton
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle, NE1 8ST, United Kingdom
| | - Hannah M. Rowland
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, United Kingdom
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London, NW1 4RY, United Kingdom
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Tiddi B, Wheeler BC, Heistermann M. Female behavioral proceptivity functions as a probabilistic signal of fertility, not female quality, in a New World primate. Horm Behav 2015; 73:148-55. [PMID: 26188948 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.07.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2015] [Revised: 07/09/2015] [Accepted: 07/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The interests of males and females in mating contexts often conflict, and identifying the information conveyed by sexual signals is central to understanding how signalers manage such conflicts. Research into the information provided by female primate sexual signals has focused on exaggerated anogenital swellings as either reliable-indicators of reproductive quality (reliable-indicator hypothesis) or probabilistic signals of fertility (graded-signal hypothesis). While these morphological signals are mostly confined to catarrhine primates, these hypotheses are potentially widely applicable across primates, but have not been tested in taxa that lack such morphological signals. Here, we tested these hypotheses in wild black capuchins (Sapajus nigritus), a species in which females lack morphological sexual signals but produce conspicuous behavioral estrous displays. Specifically, we examined the proportion of time different females spent producing these signals with respect to measures of female quality (dominance rank, parity, age-related fecundity and cycle type) and in relation to the timing of fertility, as determined by analysis of fecal progesterone. Time spent displaying did not vary across females based on measures of female quality, but increased with the approach of ovulation. Further, male mating effort varied according to the timing of female fertility. Proceptive behaviors in this species thus meet predictions of the graded-signal hypothesis, providing the first support for this hypothesis based solely on behavioral signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Tiddi
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center, Goettingen, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Germany; Courant Research Centre "Evolution of Social Behaviour", University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Kellnerweg 7, 37077, Germany; Instituto de Biologia Subtropical, Universidad Autonoma de Misiones, Puerto Iguazú, Bertoni 85, 3370, Argentina.
| | - Brandon C Wheeler
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center, Goettingen, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Germany; School of Anthropology & Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Heistermann
- Endocrinology Laboratory, German Primate Center, Goettingen, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Germany
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Lobmaier JS, Klatt WK, Lory V, Probst F. The many sides of the periovulational coin: comment on Havliček et al. Behav Ecol 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arv097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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