Concern About Contracting COVID-19 Predicts Men's Preference for Female Facial Femininity, But Not Women's Preference for Male Facial Masculinity.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Humans have evolved a behavioral system that responds to perceptual cues suggesting the existence of a pathogenic threat in other individuals and the environment. While previous investigations have reported that individuals' sexual preferences are influenced by a pathogen threat, the empirical support for face preference is mixed (i.e., the association of pathogenic threat and individuals' preferences for masculine and/or feminine faces is equivocal). The COVID-19 pandemic provides the opportunity to investigate the association of pathogenic threat and men's and women's preferences for sexual dimorphism of faces in the opposite sex in a real-world pathogenic situation.

Methods

Data were collected during COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020) from men and women in the Unit

SUBMITTER: Pazhoohi F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7785912 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature