Menstrual Cycle and Facial Preferences Reconsidered

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary psychology
• Human mating behavior
• Female mate choice

Background:

• Previous research suggested women prefer more masculine male faces during their fertile phase.
• This preference was theorized as an evolved strategy to select mates with high genetic quality for conception.
• The current study questions the assumptions underlying this evolutionary theory.

Purpose of the Study:

• To empirically test the hypothesis that women prefer more masculine male faces during their fertile menstrual cycle phase.
• To re-evaluate the link between ovulatory status and facial masculinity preference in mate selection.
• To critically examine evolutionary explanations for human mating strategies.

Main Methods:

• A large-scale study involving 853 adult participants from North America.
• Participants evaluated the facial attractiveness of photographs.
• Comprehensive assessment of participants' ovulatory status and a larger sample of target women (n=258) than previous studies.

Main Results:

• The study found no evidence supporting a greater preference for masculine male faces during the fertile phase.
• Results indicate that women's preference for facial masculinity does not significantly change with likelihood of fertilization.
• This contradicts previous findings and the proposed evolutionary explanation.

Conclusions:

• The theory linking fertile phase facial preferences to mate selection for genetic quality is not supported by this study.
• Evolutionary theorizing in human relationships requires careful consideration of assumptions and empirical evidence.
• Further research is needed to understand the complexities of mate choice and evolutionary psychology.