Concordant preferences for opposite-sex signals? Human pheromones and facial characteristics

Citation

Cornwell RE, Boothroyd L, Burt DM, Feinberg DR, Jones BC, Little A, Pitman RM, Whiten S & Perrett DI (2004) Concordant preferences for opposite-sex signals? Human pheromones and facial characteristics. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 271 (1539), pp. 635-640. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2003.2649

Abstract
We have investigated whether preferences for masculine and feminine characteristics are correlated across two modalities, olfaction and vision. In study 1, subjects rated the pleasantness of putative male (4,16-androstadien-3-one; 5α-androst-16-en-3-one) and female (1,3,5(10),16-estratetraen-3-ol) pheromones, and chose the most attractive face shape from a masculine-feminine continuum for a long- and a short-term relationship. Study 2 replicated study 1 and further explored the effects of relationship context on pheromone ratings. For long-term relationships, women's preferences for masculine face shapes correlated with ratings of 4,16-androstadien-3-one and men's preferences for feminine face shapes correlated with ratings of 1,3,5(10),16-estratetraen-3-ol. These studies link sex-specific preferences for putative human sex pheromones and sexually dimorphic facial characteristics. Our findings suggest that putative sex pheromones and sexually dimorphic facial characteristics convey common information about the quality of potential mates.

Keywords
pheromones; mating strategies; facial attraction; male–female differences

Journal
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences: Volume 271, Issue 1539