+ Models
PNEC-1732; No of Pages 9
Psychoneuroendocrinology (2009) xxx, xxx—xxxPlease cite this article in press as: Little, A.C., et al., Women’s preferences for masculinity in male faces are highest during reproductive age
Women’s preferences for masculinity in male
faces are highest during reproductive age range
and lower around puberty and post-menopause
Anthony C. Little
a,
*
, Tamsin K. Saxton
b,c
, S. Craig Roberts
b
,
Benedict C. Jones
d
, Lisa M. DeBruine
d
, Jovana Vukovic
d
,
David I. Perrett
c
, David R. Feinberg
e
, Todd Chenore
b
a
Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, UK
b
School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK
c
School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, UK
d
School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, UK
e
Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Canada
Received 28 September 2009; received in revised form 4 December 2009; accepted 7 December 2009
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 01786 467651; fax: +44 01786 467641.
E-mail address: anthony.little@stir.ac.uk (A.C. Little).
KEYWORDS
Sexual dimorphism;
Masculinity;
Attractiveness;
Puberty;
Age;
Menopause
Summary Masculinity in male faces is thought to be a sign of mate quality and is associated
with measures of long-term health. Previous studies have demonstrated that women’s masculin-
ity preferences change across the menstrual cycle with women preferring more masculine men
during phases of the menstrual cycle where fertility is highest (i.e. the late follicular phase).
Given the hormonal correlates of such preferences and that these hormones change across the life
span, we tested for differences in female masculinity preferences at different ages. We compared
the masculinity preferences of peri-pubescent girls and young adult women (Study 1), circum-
menopausal women reporting to either be pre- or post-menopause (Study 2), and a large sample
of women across a wide range of ages (Study 3). In all three studies, preferences for masculinity in
male faces were highest in women who were at a reproductively active age. Preferences for
masculinity were lower when females were peri-pubescent, post-menopausal, or at ages
corresponding to these groups. These data support the notion that masculinity in male faces
is an important trait for reproductively relevant mate choice decisions. These data also highlight
a shift in female visual preferences for men that is associated with important stages of the
lifespan. Visual preferences appear to track important hormonal changes associated with age; as
women pass puberty their preferences shift towards facial traits associated with mate quality and
as women undergo menopause their preferences for such facial traits decrease. Overall, these
available at www.sciencedirect.com
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/psyneuen
0306-4530/$ — see front matter # 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.12.006range and lower around puberty and post-menopause. Psychoneuroendocrinology (2010), doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.12.006

+ Models
PNEC-1732; No of Pages 9
tan
d to
res
2 A.C. Little et al.ceptives). Since cyclic shifts and strategic preferences for
masculine men do not appear to occur in women who do not
have natural menstrual cycles (Penton-Voak et al., 1999;
Little et al., 2002), women who are pre-pubescent and
post-menopausal are also typically excluded from studies
groups of children preferred more average, symmetric and
feminine faces, older children were significantly more likely
than younger children to select the average, symmetric and,
when judged by girls but not boys, feminine male faces as
more attractive (Saxton et al., 2009).
Please cite this article in press as: Little, A.C., et al., Women’s preferences for masculinity in male faces are highest during reproductive age1. Preferences for masculinity in male faces
are highest during reproductive age range in
women
Masculine facial characteristics in men are positively asso-
ciated with measures of long-term health (Rhodes et al.,
2003; Thornhill and Gangestad, 2006), but are also associated
with an increased interest in pursuing short-term relation-
ships (Rhodes et al., 2005; Boothroyd et al., 2008). This
means masculinity in male faces is associated with a
trade-off between health and investment and one aspect
of this trade-off means benefits of mating with masculine- or
feminine-faced men will change according to women’s ferti-
lity (see Gangestad and Thornhill, 2008; Jones et al., 2008 for
recent reviews).
Many studies have demonstrated that women’s prefer-
ences for male traits change across the menstrual cycle. For
example, studies have reported increased preferences for
facial masculinity (Frost, 1994; Penton-Voak et al., 1999;
Penton-Voak and Perrett, 2000; Johnston et al., 2001; Jones
et al., 2005; Little et al., 2008), vocal masculinity (Puts,
2005; Feinberg et al., 2006), video clips of dominant beha-
viour (Gangestad et al., 2004), taller men (Pawlowski and
Jasienska, 2005) and masculine body shapes (Little et al.,
2007) during the late follicular menstrual cycle phase when
women are most fertile. Moreover, these changes in prefer-
ences for masculine men are potentially adaptive as they may
function to increase offspring health by promoting mating
with masculine men around ovulation (Penton-Voak et al.,
1999; Penton-Voak and Perrett, 2000; Johnston et al., 2001;
Jones et al., 2005; Little et al., 2008).
Preferences for masculinity in faces are also affected by
other factors relating to potentially adaptive strategic mate
choices. For example, because an increased preference for
potential good-gene health benefits to offspring over signs of
parental investment would be expected in extra-pair copula-
tionswhen a woman has already acquired a long-term partner,
women’s partnership status should affect their face prefer-
ences. Indeed, Little et al. (2002) have shown thatwomenwho
have partners prefer masculine male faces more than those
without a partner. In a similar manner, women also report
having stronger preferences for masculine-faced men when
judging for short-term relationships than when judging for
long-term relationships (Little et al., 2002) and women who
report more interest in short-term mating also prefer more
masculine faces (Waynforth et al., 2005; Smith et al., 2009).
The strategic preferences and cyclic shifts evident in
women’s preferences for masculinity in male faces are evi-
dent in adult women who were generally selected for having
natural cycles (i.e. not pregnant or using hormonal contra-
results demonstrate the impor
ferences for male faces are tie
# 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rightsrange and lower around puberty and post-menopause. Psychoneuroenof masculinity preferences. There are good reasons, how-
ever, to predict that women’s preferences for facial mascu-
linity may change during the transitions between different
phases of a woman’s reproductive lifespan. Because women
are not able to reproduce either pre-puberty or post-meno-
pause, we might see a shift away from mating psychology at
these times. Similarly, attention to cues important in choos-
ing partners that may benefit offspring via genetic inheri-
tance may be diminished relative to women within their
reproductive years (Hawkes et al., 1998; Vukovic et al.,
2009). Both puberty and menopause are associated with
shifts in hormonal profile in women and it is these hormones
that may help determine preferences for traits such as
masculinity in men.
The transition through puberty represents the move from
a juvenile to an adult state and involves significant changes in
behaviour as well as hormonal profile (such as gonadotropins
and sex steroids). Puberty is known to affect many types of
psychological processes (Buchanan et al., 1992), although
broad similarities between judgments of facial attractive-
ness by children and by adults are generally found (Cross and
Cross, 1971; Cavior and Lombardi, 1973; Dion, 1973; for
review see Langlois et al., 2000). Indeed, even infants appear
to prefer looking at faces that adults deem as attractive
compared to those deemed unattractive (Langlois et al.,
1991; Slater et al., 1998) although certain face traits pre-
ferred by adults, such as symmetry and averageness, do not
appear to be preferred by infants (Rhodes et al., 2002).
As social interaction is relevant across the entire lifetime
it might be expected that individuals attend to attractiveness
broadly in choosing social partners. Studies demonstrating
agreement between children and adults have generally not
focussed on specific traits that may be more relevant for
mate choice–—traits that are more likely to show differences
pre- and post-puberty. Several studies have demonstrated
interesting differences in ratings that might reflect pubertal
development. For example, young children do not show
preferences for the waist-to-hip ratio that is found most
attractive by adults, but teenagers do (Connolly et al.,
2004). Another study has shown that while children’s judg-
ments are in agreement with adults’ judgments in their
perceptions of facial attractiveness there is less agreement
about vocal attractiveness (Saxton et al., 2006). Also in the
vocal domain, older girls have been found to select lower-
pitched boys’ voices as more attractive than younger girls do
and this appears related to pubertal development (Saxton
et al., 2009). Most closely related to the current studies,
Saxton et al. (2009) have also demonstrated that pubertal
development is related to preferences for several important
face traits. They found that in a cross-sectional sample of
children aged 11—15, while both the younger and older
t role of reproductive status and support the notion that pre-
reproductively relevant hormones.
erved.docrinology (2010), doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.12.006