Changes in estradiol predict within-women shifts in attraction to facial cues of men's testosterone
To view the full text, please login as a subscribed user or purchase a subscription. Click here to view the full text on ScienceDirect.
Figure 1
Example stimuli for the testosterone-based forced choice trials. The center image is a composite of two natural faces that have been morphed together. The image on the left is the center image warped into the shape of a low testosterone composite face, and the image on the right is the center image warped into the shape of a high testosterone composite face. Participants viewed the warped images in pairs (e.g., the leftmost and rightmost images in the figure) and indicated which one they found more physically attractive.
Figure 2
Change in women's testosterone preferences (session 2 preference z-score minus session 1 preference z-score) plotted against change in their estradiol concentrations (session 2 minus session 1).
Summary
Many studies have demonstrated that women express stronger attraction to androgen-related traits when tested near ovulation than when tested at other times in the cycle. Much less research, however, has directly addressed which hormonal or other physiological signals may regulate these temporal shifts in women's attractiveness judgments. In the present study, we measured women's preferences for facial cues of men's testosterone concentrations on two occasions spaced two weeks apart, while also measuring women's salivary estradiol and testosterone concentrations at each testing session. Changes in women's estradiol concentrations across sessions positively predicted changes in their preferences for facial cues of high testosterone; there was no such effect for changes in women's testosterone concentrations. For the subset of women who had a testing session fall within the estimated fertile window, preferences for high testosterone faces were stronger in the fertile window session, and change in estradiol from outside to inside the fertile window positively predicted the magnitude of the ovulatory preference shift. These patterns were not replicated when testing preferences for faces that were rated as high in masculinity, suggesting that facial cues of high testosterone can be distinguished from the cues used to subjectively judge facial masculinity. Our findings suggest that women's estradiol promotes attraction to androgen-dependent cues in men (similar to its effects in females of various nonhuman species), and support a role for this hormone as a physiological regulator of cycle phase shifts in mating psychology.
To access this article, please choose from the options below
Purchase access to this article
Claim Access
If you are a current subscriber with Society Membership or an Account Number, claim your access now.
Subscribe to this title
Purchase a subscription to gain access to this and all other articles in this journal.
Institutional Access
Visit ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
