Extraversion predicts individual differences in women's face preferences

Citation

Welling LLM, DeBruine LM, Little A & Jones BC (2009) Extraversion predicts individual differences in women's face preferences. Personality and Individual Differences, 47 (8), pp. 996-998. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.06.030

Abstract
Extraversion is positively associated with various indices of women's mate quality (e.g., facial symmetry and attractiveness). Since such indices are thought to predict variation in women's preferences for masculine men, we investigated the relationships between each of the ‘Big 5' personality factors and women's preferences for facial masculinity. Extraversion, but not the other four personality factors, was positively correlated with women's preferences for masculinity in men's, but not women's, faces. Additionally, extraversion mediated the positive relationship between women's self-rated attractiveness and their preferences for masculinity in men's faces, suggesting that extraversion may play a role in condition-dependent mate preferences. Unexpectedly, openness to experience was associated with women's preferences for femininity in faces of both sexes and this association was independent of that between extraversion and women's preferences for masculine men. This is the first study that we know of to implicate personality traits in individual differences in women's preferences for masculine men.

Keywords
Extraversion; Masculinity preferences; Mate quality; Face preferences

Journal
Personality and Individual Differences: Volume 47, Issue 8