Does Adult Sex Ratio Predict Regional Variation in Facial Dominance Perceptions? Evidence From an Analysis of U.S. States

When the adult sex ratio of the local population is biased toward women, men face greater costs due to increased direct intrasexual competition. In order to mitigate these costs, men may be more attuned to cues of other men’s physical dominance under these conditions. Consequently, we investigated t...

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Main Authors: Jaimie S. Torrance, Michal Kandrik, Anthony J. Lee, Lisa M. DeBruine, Benedict C. Jones
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2018-05-01
Series:Evolutionary Psychology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/1474704918776748
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author Jaimie S. Torrance
Michal Kandrik
Anthony J. Lee
Lisa M. DeBruine
Benedict C. Jones
author_facet Jaimie S. Torrance
Michal Kandrik
Anthony J. Lee
Lisa M. DeBruine
Benedict C. Jones
author_sort Jaimie S. Torrance
collection DOAJ
description When the adult sex ratio of the local population is biased toward women, men face greater costs due to increased direct intrasexual competition. In order to mitigate these costs, men may be more attuned to cues of other men’s physical dominance under these conditions. Consequently, we investigated the relationships between the extent to which people ( N = 3,586) ascribed high dominance to masculinized versus feminized faces and variation in adult sex ratio across U.S. states. Linear mixed models showed that masculinized faces were perceived as more dominant than feminized faces, particularly for judgments of men’s facial dominance. Dominance perceptions were weakly related to adult sex ratio, and this relationship was not moderated by face sex, participant sex, or their interaction. Thus, our results suggest that dominance perceptions are relatively unaffected by broad geographical differences in adult sex ratios.
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spelling doaj.art-b3e81e1872cb4e8db015109be043b57a2022-12-22T01:38:03ZengSAGE PublishingEvolutionary Psychology1474-70492018-05-011610.1177/1474704918776748Does Adult Sex Ratio Predict Regional Variation in Facial Dominance Perceptions? Evidence From an Analysis of U.S. StatesJaimie S. Torrance0Michal Kandrik1Anthony J. Lee2Lisa M. DeBruine3Benedict C. Jones4 Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom Institute of Neuroscience & Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United KingdomWhen the adult sex ratio of the local population is biased toward women, men face greater costs due to increased direct intrasexual competition. In order to mitigate these costs, men may be more attuned to cues of other men’s physical dominance under these conditions. Consequently, we investigated the relationships between the extent to which people ( N = 3,586) ascribed high dominance to masculinized versus feminized faces and variation in adult sex ratio across U.S. states. Linear mixed models showed that masculinized faces were perceived as more dominant than feminized faces, particularly for judgments of men’s facial dominance. Dominance perceptions were weakly related to adult sex ratio, and this relationship was not moderated by face sex, participant sex, or their interaction. Thus, our results suggest that dominance perceptions are relatively unaffected by broad geographical differences in adult sex ratios.https://doi.org/10.1177/1474704918776748
spellingShingle Jaimie S. Torrance
Michal Kandrik
Anthony J. Lee
Lisa M. DeBruine
Benedict C. Jones
Does Adult Sex Ratio Predict Regional Variation in Facial Dominance Perceptions? Evidence From an Analysis of U.S. States
Evolutionary Psychology
title Does Adult Sex Ratio Predict Regional Variation in Facial Dominance Perceptions? Evidence From an Analysis of U.S. States
title_full Does Adult Sex Ratio Predict Regional Variation in Facial Dominance Perceptions? Evidence From an Analysis of U.S. States
title_fullStr Does Adult Sex Ratio Predict Regional Variation in Facial Dominance Perceptions? Evidence From an Analysis of U.S. States
title_full_unstemmed Does Adult Sex Ratio Predict Regional Variation in Facial Dominance Perceptions? Evidence From an Analysis of U.S. States
title_short Does Adult Sex Ratio Predict Regional Variation in Facial Dominance Perceptions? Evidence From an Analysis of U.S. States
title_sort does adult sex ratio predict regional variation in facial dominance perceptions evidence from an analysis of u s states
url https://doi.org/10.1177/1474704918776748
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