Cues to fertility: perceived attractiveness and facial shape predict reproductive success.

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Authors

PFLÜGER Lena S. OBERZAUCHER Elisabeth KATINA Stanislav HOLZLEITNER I.J. GRAMMER K.

Year of publication 2012
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Evolution and Human Behaviour
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Science

Citation
Web http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513812000475
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2012.05.005
Field Applied statistics, operation research
Keywords Facial attractiveness; Facial shape; Reproductive success; Fluctuating asymmetry; Geometric morphometrics
Attached files
Description Attractive facial features in women are assumed to signal fertility, but whether facial attractiveness predicts reproductive success in women is still a matter of debate. We investigated the association between facial attractiveness at young adulthood and reproductive life history - number of children and pregnancies - in women of a rural community. For the analysis of reproductive success, we divided the sample into women who used contraceptives and women who did not. Introducing two-dimensional geometric morphometric methodology, we analysed which specific characteristics in facial shape drive the assessment of attractiveness and covary with lifetime reproductive success. A set of 93 (semi)landmarks was digitized as two-dimensional coordinates in postmenopausal faces. We calculated the degree of fluctuating asymmetry and regressed facial shape on facial attractiveness at youth and reproductive success. Among women who never used hormonal contraceptives, we found attractive women to have more biological offspring than less attractive women. These findings are not affected by sociodemographic variables. Postmenopausal faces corresponding to high reproductive success show more feminine features - facial characteristics previously assumed to be honest cues to fertility. Our findings support the notion that facial attractiveness at the age of mate choice predicts reproductive success and that facial attractiveness is based on facial characteristics, which seem to remain stable until postmenopausal age.
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