Transcript Evolutionary Psychology - College of Humanities and Social and

Beauty and Attractiveness
Overview of The Day
What influences how we perceive
human beauty and
attractiveness?
Honest signals, handicaps, and
asymmetry
Facial beauty--theories and
controversies
Height-to-Head Ratio
Approaches to thinking about
attractiveness and beauty
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Idiosyncratic. What is one person’s passion is
anther’s poison
Beauty is culturally determined
Standards of beauty are arbitrarily defined by cultural
standards
Beauty is based on evolved psychological
mechanisms
All people perceive the same beauty-cues because
they are signals of health, fertility and/or good genes
What makes someone
attractive?
 How important is physical appearance?
What are important aspects of physical appearance?
 How important is health, robustness, vigor? Why?
 How important is socio-psychological similarity (religion,
background, interests)? Why?
 How important is kindness? Why?
 How important is being conscientious & responsible?
 How important is intelligence? Why?
 How important are wealth and status (potential or
current)?
Attractiveness Issues in
“Stories of Betrayed Love”
Passages regarding what Analia thought Luis
Torres might look like, his appearance
Intimacy that developed with the letters
Luis Torres’ character
Would she have fallen in love with the crippled
school teacher when she was a young women?
Because she was independent and wealthy, did
that affect her perception of what would make a
desirable mate? That she already had a child?
Will she and the school teacher get married and
have children?
How realistic is this story about attractiveness?
Honest Advertisements of
Mate Quality
Honest advertisements
Traits that distinguish one same-sex
organism from another, that “honestly”
advertise good genes and cannot be feigned
(or are difficult to feign).
Handicaps
Asymmetry
Handicaps
Handicaps are biologically costly traits-they require significant energy to produce
and maintain and may reduce pathogen
resistance
In human males: large body size and
musculature
In females: breast size
Handicaps are related to:
Biological robustness
Pathogen resistance
Sex hormone levels
Same-sex competition (for access to
members of the opposite sex)
Fluctuating Asymmetry (FA)
Morphological traits for which the signed
differences have a mean of about zero
foot, ankle, hand, wrist, elbow, ear width, ear and
pinky length
Asymmetry results from developmental
instability (environmental stress, primarily
from pathogens, during development)
Symmetry (lack of FA) signals robustness,
resistance to parasites and other pathogens
FA is related to
IQ (low FA related to slightly higher IQs)
In men, body mass, physicality, social
dominance, and metabolic rate
In women, breast asymmetry is related to
number of offspring, having children later
in life, marital status; ear symmetry is
related to left-side infant cradling
Not related to facial attractiveness
Manning’s Theory of Breast
Size and Symmetry
Size
Breast size is influenced by fat levels and
estrogen
Estrogen and other sex steroids have been
implicated in immunosuppression (suppresses
immune system)
Less-robust individuals cannot afford large
quantities of immunosuppressants (e.g.,
estrogen)
Manning’s Theory of Breast
Size and Symmetry
Symmetry
Rapid breast growth during puberty can
generate asymmetry
More robust individuals will be able to
maintain symmetry during puberty
Breast size and symmetry are honest
signals
FA and Sexual Behavior
Experiment with barn swallows (tail
symmetry)
Men with low FA have: more sexual
partners, more extra-pair sex, are chosen
more often by women in extra-pair affairs
Not found with women
Women are more likely to have orgasms
with low FA men
Question for women?
If you want to be happy for the rest of
your life, better make an asymmetric man
your husband.
Less likely to fool around
Less attractive to other women
More likely to invest in you and your children
Controversies
Kalick, et al. study
correlated ratings of photos (facial) with
health data.
Facial attractiveness was unrelated to health
Is this evidence debunking the FA theory?
What Makes a Face
Beautiful?
“Averageness” of features
Symmetry of features
Uniqueness of features
Feminine qualities
fuller lips, larger eyes, shorter length, and
rounder jaw
Some Theories about Facial
Attractiveness
Average features
desirable in women because easier to identify
paternity
 Unique features
desirable in men because easier to identify
paternity
Feminine features
desirable in women--signals high estrogen
and fertility
desirable in men--signals a more investing
man
Height-to-Head Ratio:
Another Honest Signal?
Average H-t-H ratio is about 6.5 to 7.0
NBA stars, 8.6; Top female models, 8.0
Propaganda art
favorable, 10.0; unfavorable, 5.5
Reasons why H-t-H ratio is a marker:
honest signal of genotype
height and status
height and maturity
Summary
What influences how we perceive human
beauty and attractiveness?
Honest signals, handicaps, and
asymmetry
Facial beauty--theories and
controversies
Height-to-Head Ratio