ANTH 332 Week 9, Assignment 5_Hawks

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ANTH 332 Week 9, Assignment 5 This worksheet does double-duty as a study guide for a part of this week’s quiz. It focuses on readings and lectures for week 9 that further investigate factors that affect variation in preferences for cues of attractiveness. The assignment is worth 160 points, and will prepare you for the quiz, with an additional 20pt extra credit question. Make sure you answer all parts of each question. Type your answers into this sheet after the question you are answering, save it as a doc, docx, file, and submit it via Canvas. 1. (20pts) DeBruine et al. 2010 “The Health of a Nation Predicts Their Mate Preferences: Cross-cultural Variation in Women's Preferences for Masculinized Male Faces” (pp. 277-282) 1a) According to DeBruine et al (2010), what trade-offs do women face in choosing between more and less masculine men, and how are they predicted to be related to women’s preferences cross- culturally? The trade-offs women face are between the benefits of their offspring's health and the costs of the low investment. "For example, the benefit of genetic health for offspring can only be attained when women can conceive and, accordingly, women demonstrate stronger preferences for masculine men during the most fertile phase of the menstrual cycle than during other phases" (DeBruine 2). There are both costs and benefits to choosing a more masculine male, and they are predicted to relate to their preferences for short-term versus long-term mating. 1b) How were each of the following related to average facial masculinity preferences? National Health Index?: the national health index shows significant changes in average facial masculinity preferences. “While all of the countries in our sample have a high or very high human development index1 and are mostly New World and European countries, this avoids confounding health factors with broader cultural differences that may also affect mate preferences”(DeBruine 2). GNP and Age? GNP and age did not support the correlation between NHI and average masculinity preferences by cross-cultural variation. Mating Strategies (SOI) versus NHI as a predictor of facial masculinity preferences? NHI is a better predictor than SOI because of the cross-cultural variation in women’s average masculinity preferences. 1c) In the discussion, what three additional factors that were not measured do DeBruine et al. suggest might also affect women’s cross-cultural preferences for facial masculinity. The three additional factors are the prevalence of violent crimes, women’s rights, and wealth distribution. “For example, cross-cultural variation in women’s masculinity preferences may reflect differences in the prevalence of violent crime, women’s rights or wealth distribution, which may increase the importance of women having a strong, physically dominant partner. Indeed, masculine facial characteristics in men are positively correlated with indices of their physical strength and perceptions of their dominance” (DeBruine 5). 1d) What factor limits the generalizability of these results to the total range of variation in NHI? The factor of areas with extreme poor health could limit the factor of availability of mates and that will eliminate the relationships between poor health and increase masculinity preferences. Poor health

limits the potential of survival and therefore the quality of mates one can attain. “Women in environments where poor health is particularly harmful to survival (e.g. environments with high prevalence of pathogens and inaccessible or poor healthcare) will demonstrate stronger preferences for masculine 2. (20pts) Little et al. 2011 “Exposure to Visual Cues of Pathogen Contagion Changes Preferences for Masculinity and Symmetry in Opposite-Sex Faces” (pp. 2032-2039) 2a) What was the hypothesis tested in this study? The hypothesis was that exposure to visual cues to pathogens would increase women’s preference for masculine and symmetric faced men and men’s preference for feminine and symmetric faced women. 2b) Overall, what did analyses demonstrate regarding preferences for high sexual dimorphism and symmetry after exposure to cues to environmental pathogens than after exposure to images without these cues? It demonstrated that preferences for high sexual dimorphism and symmetry are stronger after exposure to cues to environmental pathogens than after exposure to images without the cues. 2c) Were these changes in preferences restricted to particular combinations of own sex and opposite sex faces? The changes in preferences were restricted to judgment of opposite sex faces but did not occur for judgment of own sex faces. This showed that women preferred more masculine and more symmetric male faces and men preferred more feminine and symmetric female faces after exposure. 3. (20pts) Quist et al. 2011 “Sociosexuality Predicts Women's Preferences for Symmetry in Men's Faces” (pp. 1-7) 3a) What was the hypothesis tested in this study? The link between women’s Sociosexuality and the strength of their preferences for cues of men’s underlying conditions occurs because of the individual differences in women’s interest in short term mating. 3b) What was the relationship between women’s sociosexual attitude and their preferences for men’s faces? For women’s faces? For men’s faces, there was a significant positive correlation between women’s reported attraction to symmetrized male faces and their scores on the sociosexual attitude component. For women’s faces, there was no significant relationship between the two. 3c) Why does the pattern of results from this study suggest that the underlying psychology is specific to mating and not social relations in general? Generally, the relationship between women’s preferences for symmetric male faces and the Sociosexuality and sociosexual attitude demonstrated a weak connection. It implicates Sociosexuality in women’s mate preferences but not their general social preferences. 4. (20pts) Price et al. 2013 “Body Shape Preferences: Associations with Rater Body Shape and Sociosexuality” (pp. 1-18) 4a) According to Price et al, why should one’s own attractiveness affect preferences for attractive traits in others? What costs are there for less attractive individuals to simply pursue the most attractive potential mates? If one’s attractiveness limits one’s ability to acquire an attractive male, pursuing desirable partners than less attractive individuals could involve considerable wasted mating effort. There is a loss in mating competition and the loss of mating efforts.

4c) For male raters: What was the relationship between SOI-R and attractive female traits (VHI and WHR)? The relationship was that male raters with higher SOI-R scores showed preferences for traits for low VHI and low WHR in female targets. What was the relationship between men’s own perceived attractiveness and their preference for attractive female traits (VHI and WHR)? It was positively associated with strength of preference for low VHI in female bodies and WHR was also shown to be a strong preference in female bodies of male raters. 4d) For female raters what was the relationship between the woman’s own VHI, WHR, perceived attractiveness and SOI and attractive male WCR and VHI? For female raters, there was one significant association with women with VHI's, showing stronger preferences for attractive male WCR. The female raters WHR and SOI-R were considered to be used as predictors of the raters' self-perceived attractiveness. Also, female WHR and self-perceived attractiveness failed to predict female preference strength for attractive make VHI and WCR. 4c) Overall, were there greater condition-dependent body preferences among male or female raters? Why might this be? There was a greater condition-dependent body preference among males because men have significant choosiness about women’s physical attractiveness due to women having more parental investment and sexual selection. 5. (20pts) Holzleitner & Perrett (2017) , discussed in lecture, conducted a large online study using Mechanical Turke (Mturk) that examined variables predicted to affect preferences for facial masculinity/femininity. What did they find regarding each of the following predictions? P1: More attractive women will have greater preference for facial masculinity Prediction 1 was based on findings in previous studies, that if facial masculinity is an indicator of genetic quality then more attractive women will have a greater desire for that trait. While the study did not identify the attractiveness of these women, and were instead based on self perceived attractiveness, the results still identified accurately with these factors. The results of the study showed that women with higher self-perceived attractiveness preferred slightly more masculine faces than women with low perceived attractiveness and did not like feminine faces, and had an aversion towards them. So while more attractive women do not necessarily have a greater preference for facial masculinity they do have a lower tolerance for feminine faces. P2: Women who have relatively greater attraction to women will prefer more feminine faces Previous studies rated their preference for female partners on a scale, where even if they have a dominant preference for males they will prefer more feminine faces, therefore explaining the variability in results. In Holzleitner & Perrett’s study they isolated the participants' results who were not completely heterosexual. The results furthered this hypothesis, where compared to women exclusively attracted to men, women who were also somewhat attracted to women rated masculine faces relatively less attractive and more feminine faces more attractive .

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P3: More pathogenic environment will increase preferences for health, hence masculinity The prediction that a more pathogenic environment had led to an evolved trait for an increased preference for masculinity suggests that a high disgust sensitivity is advantageous for finding a future mate. One can characterize a high disgust sensitivity as how disgusted you are by moldy bread, an example, and use it as a proxy for sensitivity to environmental pathogens. However, the results showed that women with high disgust sensitivity women preferred moderately masculine men and disliked both feminine and very masculine men. Women with less disgust sensitivity found moderately and extremely masculine men equally attractive. In conclusion, these results disproved the hypothesis. P4: Poor health will increase preferences for health of mate, hence masculinity Prediction 4 states that women with bad health will seek healthier mates, i.e., hyper-masculine men, to split the difference with potential offspring. However, the results disproved this theory where women with high self-reported health preferred relatively more masculine faces than women with low-self- reported health and disliked feminine faces. Women with low self-reported health preferred slightly less masculine faces and had a more significant attraction (tolerance of) towards more feminine faces. P5: Cues to environmental harshness will increase preference for masculinity Prediction 5 states that when the harshness of the environment correlates directly to a higher mortality rate, women will seek out men who exhibit traits of hyper-masculinity. While Holzleitner & Perrett did not include the study's results, they disproved this theory and proved that environmental harshness does not affect a preference for masculinity. 6. (20pts) Marcinkowska et al (2019c) examined the relationships among country health/development index masculinity preference and SOI. 6a) What relationship did they find between health/development index and masculinity preference? Marcinkowska found a positive association between country health/development factors and masculinity preference. He studies data in various modernized countries, such as the U.S., Australia, Nigeria, and many European countries. In his graph, the points represent the mean proportion of times individuals chose the masculine face in each country. The bars represent a 95% confidence interval of the mean, meaning the graph represents this relationship very well. 6b) What relationship did they find between health/development index and SOI? Marcinkowska found a positive association between country health/development factors and SOI. As the country’s health and development increase, there is higher SOI and a greater preference for short- term mateships. He also finds that the preference for masculine traits goes up as well. 6c) Compare and contrast these results with the findings of DeBruine et al. 2010. Unlike Markinowska’s study, which found a positive association with his findings, DeBruine found a negative association and concluded a negative relationship between masculinity and health, where lower national health indices related to higher masculinity preference increase and health decreases.

With both experiments being extensive multi-thousand-person studies, it is interesting that Marcinkowska found that there is an effect opposite the one that Debruine found 7. (40pts) Scott et al. (2014) studied cross-cultural variation in facial preferences in 12 non- westernized/non-industrialized populations. 7a) Describe the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis (ICHH). Based on the ICHH, what did Scott et al. predict regarding cross-cultural variation in women’s preferences for masculine male faces? For each of the groups studied, what did Scott et al find, regarding this prediction? “The immunocompetence handicap hypothesis suggests that the immune system competes for resources with sexually selected ornaments; variation in ornaments might reflect genetic variation for immunocompetence” (National Institute of Health). In the range of the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis, Scott predicted that preferences for dimorphism would be stronger in less developed groups and that masculine faces would be perceived as aggressive in all populations. He also questioned if a cross-cultural variance exists in preference for sexual dimorphism. Scott studied groups exhibiting natural cross-cultural variation and focused on small-scale non-westernized/non-industrialized populations. His results show that there are preferences for dimorphism in larger societies than in groups with low disease risk. The results also showed that women’s preferences for masculinity are reversed and not simply attenuated in several small-scale groups. Scott concluded that his results were non-random but culturally variable preferences. 7c) Why were female preferences for masculinity predicted to be stronger in groups with greater pathogen pressure? What did Scott et al. find regarding this prediction? Scott et al. predicted female preferences for masculinity would be stronger in groups with more significant pathogen pressure due to a risk of disease. It was predicted and proven that female preferences for masculinity would decrease as the disease burden increases. Regarding this prediction, Scott found that while women perceived masculine faces as more aggressive, preferences for that masculinity signals aggressiveness are stronger in large-scale, urban societies than in groups with a low disease, fertility, and homicide risk. We can see this in the data because there was a significant preference for Masculinized male faces across both relationship contexts for the Canadian, Hangzhou, and Kadazan, and Feminine faces among the Miskitu and Shau Scott found that this possibility is plausible because men in Western industrialized contexts may have higher testosterone labels than men in small-scale societies, likely reflecting a reduction in energetic stressors, such as food shortage and disease, and sexual dimorphism in body size is also more significant in these environments 7d) Why are masculine faces predicted to be perceived as more aggressive? What did Scott et al. find regarding this prediction? Scott et al. predicted masculine faces would be perceived as more aggressive. While not as predicted on the immunocompetence handicap view, facial dimorphism is an ancestral cue of mate value.

Scott et al. explained that participants in urban environments are more likely to choose masculine faces when asked to choose the most aggressive-looking face, and similar results for female faces. 7e) Why were men predicted to prefer facial femininity in human female faces? What did Scott et al. find, regarding this prediction? Men were predicted to prefer facial femininity for female faces because The study found a male preference for feminized female faces across the Canadian, Fijian, Hangzhouvian, Kadazan, Shanghainese, Cree, and UK populations. Interestingly, the Cree showed a greater preference for femininity in Short term mateships than long-term mateships. On the other hand, the Miskitu and Tuvans showed the opposite effect, with a greater preference for feminized faces for long-term mateships and short-term mateships for masculinized faces. 7f) What variable was most strongly related to cross-cultural patterns of women’s preferences for male facial masculinity? How do Scott et al explain these results? Disease burden was strongly related to cross-cultural patterns of women’s preferences for male facial masculinity. The data from the study showed that women had significant preferences for Masculinized male faces across both relationship contexts for the Canadian, Hangzhou, and Kadazan, and preferred feminine faces among the Miskitu and Shaur. There were also significant differences between groups in the effect of relationship context on preference. In the UK, there was a preference for masculine faces in short-term mateships and neutral faces in long-term mateships, and in the Aka and Tuvan groups, there was a preference for feminine faces in long-term mateships. As rural populations shift to larger urban societies, the preference for facial masculinity increases. Scott et al. explained that this is due to the risk of infectious disease in these rural societies, as there is an evolved trait to pick up on the fact that highly masculine men might get sick more often. 8. (20pts extra credit) According to Sugiyama: 8a) what methodological problems were there with the Scott et al. 2014 study that require additional research, regarding? Some methodological problems in the Scott et al. study are significant critical factors not measured or controlled for, like the probability of desertion, household violence, local violence, the relative value of bi-parental households, etc. Additionally, many of these variables, like homicide and HDI, were measured at a national level, not in local populations. Therefore the data presented in the Shuar and Miskito groups are subcomponents of a national society and would need additional research. 8b) What were women’s preferences for facial masculinity were found among Shuar and Miskito? What general cultural characteristics do these groups share? In the Shuar and Miskito groups, the study found that women’s preferences for masculinity are reversed and not simply attenuated as they lean towards more feminine traits in a partner. These groups share that they are warrior cultures and have high rates of internal warfare. For example, Shuar repelled Inca,

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Spaniards, and colonists from growing and expanding into their territory for over 100 years. In both these cultures, violence is still an endemic risk to life, and feuds extend for generations. 8c) Describe Shuar social and economic characteristics noted in the lecture. The Shuar society is centered around its warrior culture and economy through horticulture, hunting, foraging, and recent small-scale-agropastoralism. The most significant social characteristics of the Shuar economy are the importance of single families and bi-parental units. Without possessing these social characteristics, you are highly impoverished in Shuar society. Sugiyama felt it essential to note that the Shuar economy is changing rapidly due to the implementation of more technology and that the data would look very different today. 8d) How might the social and economic characteristics affect trade-offs faced by Shuar women that may affect their mating preferences for male facial masculinity? The economic and social characteristics most prevalent in Shuar societies are bi-parental units, which come from a significant amount of parental investment. When choosing a mate, it would be more beneficial for the woman to pick someone less likely to become preoccupied or killed by warrior culture and instead pick someone willing to put in that investment. Sugiyama recalled, "maybe I don't want the guy that's super aggressive, so I can have someone more likely to stick around, look after the kids, and not be aggressive towards me" (lecture 32). Shuar women have evolved traits to be predisposed towards more feminine traits as they suggest a less likelihood of violence and desertion from the family.

ANTH 332 Week 9, Assignment 5_Hawks

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