How relationship status and sociosexual orientation influence the link between facial attractiveness and visual attention.

ABSTRACT: Facial attractiveness captures and binds visual attention, thus affecting visual exploration of our environment. It is often argued that this effect on attention has evolutionary functions related to mating. Although plausible, such perspectives have been challenged by recent behavioral and eye-tracking studies, which have shown that the effect on attention is moderated by various sex- and goal-related variables such as sexual orientation. In the present study, we examined how relationship status and sociosexual orientation moderate the link between attractiveness and visual attention. We hypothesized that attractiveness leads to longer looks and that being single as well as being more sociosexually unrestricted, enhances the effect of attractiveness. Using an eye-tracking free-viewing par

SUBMITTER: Mitrovic A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6241135 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature