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Sex-typicality and attractiveness: are supermale and superfemale faces super-attractive
Abstract
Many animals find extreme versions of secondary sexual characteristics attractive, and such preferences can enhance reproductive success (Andersson, 1994). We hypothesized, therefore, that extreme versions of sex-typical traits may be attractive in human faces. We created supermale and superfemale faces by exaggerating all spatial differences between an average male and an average female face. In Expt 1 the male average was preferred to a supermale (50% exaggeration of differences from the female average). There was no clear preference for the female average or the superfemale (50% exaggeration). In Expt 2, participants chose the most attractive face from sets of images containing feminized as well as masculinized images for each sex, and spanning a wider range of exaggeration levels than in Expt 1. Chinese sets were also shown, to see whether similar preferences would occur for a less familiar race (participants were Caucasian). The most attractive female image was significantly feminized for faces of both races. However, the most attractive male image for both races was also significantly feminized. These results indicate that feminization, rather than sex exaggeration per se, is attractive in human faces, and they corroborate similar findings by Perrett et al. (1998).
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“There is some evidence from the face perception literature that an average face, one closer to the population mean, is consistently rated as being attractive (Rhodes et al., 2000; Valentine et al., 2004; Potter and Corneille, 2008).”
From The degree to which the cultural ideal is internalized predicts judgments of male and female physical attractiveness (2022) · cites this paper as Rhodes et al., 2000
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The Evolutionary Psychology of Facial Beauty
Rhodes, G. (2005) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190208 · Cited by 1,821
“…thin lips, square chins, and small eyes) were preferred to feminized ones (Keating 1985), but more recent studies using photographic sex continua generally show a preference for feminized male faces (Penton-Voak et al. 2004, Perrett et al. 1998, Rhodes et al. 2000; but see Johnston et al. 2001).”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationFacial attractiveness: evolutionary based research
Little, A. C., Jones, B. C., & DeBruine, L. M. (2011) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0404 · Cited by 1,070
Beauty and the beast: mechanisms of sexual selection in humans
Puts, D. A. (2010) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.02.005 · Cited by 853
Attractiveness and sexual behavior: Does attractiveness enhance mating success?
Rhodes, G., Simmons, L. W., & Peters, M. (2005) · Evolution and Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2004.08.014 · Cited by 521
Self-citationRhodes, G., Jeffery, L., Watson, T., Clifford, C. W. G., & Nakayama, K. (2003) · Psychological Science · doi:10.1046/j.0956-7976.2003.psci_1465.x · Cited by 462
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Metadata
- Authors
- Rhodes, G., Hickford, C., & Jeffery, L.
- Affiliations
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- University of Canterbury (NZ)
- Corresponding author
- Rhodes, Gillian
- Venue
- British Journal of Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2000-02
- Volume
- 91
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 125-140
- ISSN
- 0007-1269 (ISSN-L)
- 2044-8295
- OpenAlex
- W2034454958
- Cited by
- 226
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 8.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- British Journal of Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Australian Research Council
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Face Recognition and Perception
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Keywords
- facial attractiveness, feminization, masculinization, secondary sexual characteristics, face preference, human face
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Anthropometry, Esthetics, Face, Female, Humans, Male, Sexual Behavior, Sex Factors, Visual Perception
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