The Effects of Sex and Sexual Orientation on Sexually Dimorphic Facial Trait Preferences

Attraction is a complex phenomenon innate to humans, animals, and plant species. Its primary purpose is to communicate reproductive information such as health, fertility, and parenting quality (Andersson, 1994; Vashi, 2015). One channel these messages are communicated by is through sexual dimorphism, the systematic differences between sexes (Samal et al., 2007). In human communication specifically, attraction patterns of sexually dimorphic preferences are a flourishing area of research. However, research accounting for variability in sexual orientation is severely lacking. The present study aimed to remedy this by measuring participants on three distinct dimensions of sexual orientation and compared their preferences of sexually dimorphic traits in both male and female faces, while controlling for personality masculinity and age. Results suggested that individuals tend to prefer sexually dimorphic traits typical of the sex they find most attractive, lending support to the neuroendocrine theory of sexual orientation development.

Grantor dc:publisher

State University of New York at Buffalo

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Gage, Kelsey; 0000-0001-8929-1470

Contributors dc:contributor

• Rintamaki, Lance
• Communication

• communication
• sexuality

Statement dc:rights

• Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.
• Copyright retained by author.

Language dc:language

eng

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10477/78031

OAI record oai:identifier

https://ubir.buffalo.edu/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=qdc&identifier=oai%3Aubir.buffalo.edu%3A10477%2F78031