Published April 10, 2014 | Version v1
Dataset Open

Data from: Cross-cultural variation in men's preference for sexual dimorphism in women's faces

  • 1. University of Turku
  • 2. Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • 3. Universidad de Guanajuato
  • 4. University of New South Wales
  • 5. Babeș-Bolyai University
  • 6. University of Toulouse
  • 7. Singapore Management University
  • 8. University of Liverpool
  • 9. University of Nigeria, Nsukka
  • 10. Model College, Kathmandu, Nepal*
  • 11. Shiraz University
  • 12. University of Trnava
  • 13. Universidad de Ibagué
  • 14. Federal University of Paraná

Description

Both attractiveness judgements and mate preferences vary considerably cross-culturally. We investigated whether men's preference for femininity in women's faces varies between 28 countries with diverse health conditions by analysing responses of 1972 heterosexual participants. Although men in all countries preferred feminized over masculinized female faces, we found substantial differences between countries in the magnitude of men's preferences. Using an average femininity preference for each country, we found men's facial femininity preferences correlated positively with the health of the nation, which explained 50.4% of the variation among countries. The weakest preferences for femininity were found in Nepal and strongest in Japan. As high femininity in women is associated with lower success in competition for resources and lower dominance, it is possible that in harsher environments, men prefer cues to resource holding potential over high fecundity.

Notes

Files

Files (223.7 kB)

Name Size Download all
md5:95ebc33d1670a5aa6fa05ce9f6dbab96
223.7 kB Download

Additional details

Related works

Is cited by
10.1098/rsbl.2013.0850 (DOI)