Association between Facial Metrics and Mate Rejection for Long-Term Relationship by Heterosexual Men
Investigations on mate choice in humans frequently report preferences, but there is little knowledge about what is important for rejection by a potential mate. The present study aims to verify if facial asymmetry and facial disharmony have an influence on mate rejection by men. We hypothesized that...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Symmetry |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/15/1/133 |
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| author | Luiza Penha Pinheiro Luis Carlos Pereira Monteiro Leonardo Dutra Henriques Givago Silva Souza Ana Catarina Miranda Marcelo Fernandes Costa Alda Loureiro Henriques |
| author_facet | Luiza Penha Pinheiro Luis Carlos Pereira Monteiro Leonardo Dutra Henriques Givago Silva Souza Ana Catarina Miranda Marcelo Fernandes Costa Alda Loureiro Henriques |
| author_sort | Luiza Penha Pinheiro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Investigations on mate choice in humans frequently report preferences, but there is little knowledge about what is important for rejection by a potential mate. The present study aims to verify if facial asymmetry and facial disharmony have an influence on mate rejection by men. We hypothesized that more asymmetric and disharmonious faces would be more rejected. For this purpose, photographs of women’s faces were presented in pairs by self-declared heterosexual men. It was requested they reject one of the faces as a potential mate for a long-term relationship. Women’s faces were also analyzed to measure facial asymmetry and facial disharmony. We used a linear mixed model to evaluate the effect of the cited metrics on each face’s number of rejections. We found that the female metrics influenced mate rejection only if associated with male age and income. The older participants rejected female partners with asymmetric faces. We suggest that aging makes men more demanding in mate choices, at least considering facial asymmetry. We concluded that rejection could be a key variable in mate choice studies, but further research is needed to clarify its effects. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:08:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7b6c073a542b4082a8e3107e3a4f1efa |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-8994 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:08:11Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Symmetry |
| spelling | doaj.art-7b6c073a542b4082a8e3107e3a4f1efa2023-12-01T00:52:20ZengMDPI AGSymmetry2073-89942023-01-0115113310.3390/sym15010133Association between Facial Metrics and Mate Rejection for Long-Term Relationship by Heterosexual MenLuiza Penha Pinheiro0Luis Carlos Pereira Monteiro1Leonardo Dutra Henriques2Givago Silva Souza3Ana Catarina Miranda4Marcelo Fernandes Costa5Alda Loureiro Henriques6Neuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program, Center for Behavioral Theory and Research, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, BrazilNeuroscience and Cell Biology Graduate Program, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, BrazilDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05588-030, BrazilNeuroscience and Cell Biology Graduate Program, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, BrazilNeuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program, Center for Behavioral Theory and Research, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, BrazilDepartment of Experimental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05588-030, BrazilNeuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program, Center for Behavioral Theory and Research, Federal University of Pará, Belém 66075-110, BrazilInvestigations on mate choice in humans frequently report preferences, but there is little knowledge about what is important for rejection by a potential mate. The present study aims to verify if facial asymmetry and facial disharmony have an influence on mate rejection by men. We hypothesized that more asymmetric and disharmonious faces would be more rejected. For this purpose, photographs of women’s faces were presented in pairs by self-declared heterosexual men. It was requested they reject one of the faces as a potential mate for a long-term relationship. Women’s faces were also analyzed to measure facial asymmetry and facial disharmony. We used a linear mixed model to evaluate the effect of the cited metrics on each face’s number of rejections. We found that the female metrics influenced mate rejection only if associated with male age and income. The older participants rejected female partners with asymmetric faces. We suggest that aging makes men more demanding in mate choices, at least considering facial asymmetry. We concluded that rejection could be a key variable in mate choice studies, but further research is needed to clarify its effects.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/15/1/133rejectionmate choiceasymmetryfacial metricsfacial disharmonyfacial asymmetry |
| spellingShingle | Luiza Penha Pinheiro Luis Carlos Pereira Monteiro Leonardo Dutra Henriques Givago Silva Souza Ana Catarina Miranda Marcelo Fernandes Costa Alda Loureiro Henriques Association between Facial Metrics and Mate Rejection for Long-Term Relationship by Heterosexual Men Symmetry rejection mate choice asymmetry facial metrics facial disharmony facial asymmetry |
| title | Association between Facial Metrics and Mate Rejection for Long-Term Relationship by Heterosexual Men |
| title_full | Association between Facial Metrics and Mate Rejection for Long-Term Relationship by Heterosexual Men |
| title_fullStr | Association between Facial Metrics and Mate Rejection for Long-Term Relationship by Heterosexual Men |
| title_full_unstemmed | Association between Facial Metrics and Mate Rejection for Long-Term Relationship by Heterosexual Men |
| title_short | Association between Facial Metrics and Mate Rejection for Long-Term Relationship by Heterosexual Men |
| title_sort | association between facial metrics and mate rejection for long term relationship by heterosexual men |
| topic | rejection mate choice asymmetry facial metrics facial disharmony facial asymmetry |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/15/1/133 |
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