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- Women's preferences in male faces fluctuate
with the time of the month, new research reveals, suggesting there may
be a biological basis for wandering tastes.
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- An international team of researchers
reports two studies in the current journal Nature. In the first, 39 Japanese
women not using oral contraceptives were asked to rate photographs of male
faces at different times of the month.
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- When conception was likeliest, the women
preferred men with masculine facial features, such as prominent eyebrow
ridges and strong jaw lines. At all other times, the women went for slightly
more feminine faces, with small chins and thin, arched eyebrows.
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- David Perrett, professor of psychology
at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and one of the report's authors,
says studies on how women react to male pheromone odors have produced similar
findings.
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- "Women think male pheromones stink
most of the time, but not when they are in a high conception phase,"
he says.
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- Perrett explains, "Males with healthy
testosterone levels tend to develop strong secondary facial characteristics
and body odors. Women are perhaps attracted to such males during times
when conception likelihood is great because they desire heritable benefits
from healthy males, such as strong immune systems and good genes."
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- In a second experiment, 65 British women
were asked to alter a digitized male face on a computer to create an image
of a desired short-term sexual partner and another of a long-term mate.
The short-term partners nearly always had very masculine faces, whereas
the more permanent Mr. Rights had softer looks.
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- "Facial features seem to be linked
to certain behavioral and personality attributes," says Perrett. "For
example, a male with a slightly feminine face is thought of as being more
nurturing and caring than a male with masculine features."
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- Melissa Franklin, a graduate researcher
in psychology at the University of New Mexico, has worked on similar studies.
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- "My work also shows that females
almost always prefer males with more feminine features," says Franklin.
"Perhaps women are more concerned about commitment than sex."
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- Both Franklin and Perrett are quick to
note that cultural and environmental influences also affect mate choice.
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