Authors
Michal Kandrik
Publication date
2017
Institution
University of Glasgow
Description
The vast majority of research investigating mating strategies and mate preferences focused on variation among and within women. However, there are strong theoretical reasons to expect systematic differences in men’s mating strategies and mat preferences as well. In this thesis I present four empirical chapters investigating variation in men’s mating strategies and face preferences. The first empirical chapter investigates the regional variation in men’s and women’s sociosexual orientation across US states, using improved measures of sociosexuality and multilevel modeling. I show that scarcity of female mates, but not health risks or wealth predict people’s sociosexual orientation. Women and men in states, where female mates were scarce reported being less willing to engage in uncommitted sexual relationships. In my second empirical chapter I present a study investigating the relationship between men’s hormone levels and men’s preferences for healthy color cues in faces. I show that men with the combination of high testosterone and low cortisol show the weakest preferences for yellower and darker skin; a color profile associated with carotenoid coloration. The third chapter tests for within-subject effects of hormones on men’s perceptions of vocal characteristics. I show that within-subject changes in men’s hormone levels were not associated with preferences for sexually dimorphic acoustic properties in women’s or men’s voices. In the final chapter I present a study testing for relationships between men’s facial appearance and their hormone levels and show that men’s rated facial dominance is lowest among men with high cortisol and low …
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