Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm
06:07

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm

Published on: May 15, 2019

Gender differences in the motivational processing of babies are determined by their facial attractiveness

Rinah Yamamoto1, Dan Ariely, Won Chi

  • 1Clinical Psychopathology Laboratory, McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.

Plos One
|June 26, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Men extended viewing time for normal babies, while women shortened exposure to abnormal babies. These gender differences in infant perception may stem from evolutionary nurturing needs.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

  • Adults' motivational processing is influenced by infant esthetics.
  • Understanding these responses is crucial for developmental and evolutionary psychology.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how infant appearance affects adult motivational processing.
  • To identify gender-specific responses to infant facial features.

Main Methods:

  • Participants (healthy men and women) performed tasks involving viewing time adjustment and attractiveness ratings of infant images.
  • Infant images included those with normal and abnormal facial features (e.g., Down's syndrome, cleft palate).

Main Results:

  • Men showed increased motivation to extend viewing time for normal-appearing babies.
  • Women demonstrated greater motivation to shorten viewing time for babies with abnormal features.
  • Attractiveness ratings were comparable between genders for abnormal babies.

Conclusions:

  • Gender differences exist in motivational processing of infants, with men favoring prolonged exposure to healthy infants and women avoiding prolonged exposure to abnormal infants.
  • These sex-specific responses may reflect evolutionary mechanisms for resource allocation towards healthy offspring.
  • The findings suggest an incentive sensitization phenomenon linked to infant caregiving behaviors.
Abstract

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