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Human preferences for sexually dimorphic faces may be evolutionarily novel.

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Preferences for exaggerated facial masculinity and femininity are linked to modern, developed environments, not ancestral ones. These findings challenge evolutionary theories on facial dimorphism and mate selection.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary psychology
  • Human behavior
  • Social cognition

Background:

  • Existing research suggests preferences for exaggerated sex-typical facial traits (masculinity/femininity) evolved due to sexual and social selection.
  • This implies facial dimorphism was crucial for judging attractiveness and personality in ancestral human environments.
  • Evaluating this hypothesis is challenging due to reliance on data from industrialized, urban populations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the influence of economic development on preferences for exaggerated sex-typical facial traits.
  • To test the hypothesis that facial dimorphism was a key ancestral signal of mate value.

Main Methods:

  • Collected data from 12 diverse populations with varying economic development levels.
  • Analyzed preferences for exaggerated sex-specific traits and perceptions of masculinity and aggression across these populations.

Main Results:

  • Preferences for exaggerated sex-typical traits were predominantly found in highly developed, novel environments.
  • Perceptions of masculine faces as aggressive increased significantly with economic development and urbanization.
  • These results contradict the idea that facial dimorphism was a primary ancestral signal of heritable mate value.

Conclusions:

  • The findings challenge the evolutionary significance of facial dimorphism in ancestral mate selection.
  • Highly developed environments may offer unique opportunities to detect subtle facial trait-behavior correlations due to exposure to larger, unfamiliar populations.
  • Novel environmental factors, rather than ancestral pressures, may drive preferences for exaggerated facial masculinity and femininity.