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Sensation seeking and men’s preference for facial femininity in women

I have until now addressed variation in men’s preferences regarding women’s physical femininity in terms of sexual orientation-related differences, but even among heterosexual men there is variation in the extent to which physical femininity is preferred in women, and here is an article on a series of 3 studies on this issue.  In these studies, the authors took pictures of the faces of young adult women and presented them to men in two forms, slightly masculinized and slightly feminized.  The male judges rated them for attractiveness.

In all 3 studies, men generally preferred above average femininity in women’s faces, but men more prone to sensation seeking – and by extrapolation more likely to indulge in risky behaviors overall – had a stronger preference for facial femininity in women.(1, pdf)

In the 2nd study, it was shown that men’s degree of sensation seeking was unrelated to attractiveness ratings of facial femininity in men’s faces.  In the first two studies, men’s ratings were on a 0–7 scale.  To rule out the possibility that men more into sensation seeking were more prone to choose higher numbers to rate faces they found more attractive, in the 3rd study, the authors examined the number of times men preferred the more feminized faces, and replicated the main find of the first two studies.

So what is the explanation?  The authors favor a condition-dependent hypothesis.  They point out research showing that women find more daring men more appealing, i.e., willingness to indulge in more risky behaviors on the part of men is potentially attractive to women and a potential marker of men’s mate quality.  The extent of femininity of women is also a potential marker of their mate quality.  So the assumption is that those with higher mate value prefer others with higher mate value.  But whereas those with higher perceived mate value are expected to disproportionately seek/direct courtship toward partners with higher mate value, why should they find those of lesser mate value more appealing in a scenario where they are merely asked to rate attractiveness rather than direct courtship toward the choices presented?

I can think of a more likely explanation.  The neurophysiology of overall stronger sensation seeking can be roughly modeled as a need for overall stronger stimuli to engage one’s mind.  Therefore, heterosexual men who need stronger stimuli in general to stimulate their mind disproportionately favor more feminine women and possibly have a stronger interest in women’s attractiveness also.

What may cause stronger sensation seeking?  The authors mention some research on prenatal and adult exposure to testosterone.  If the brain organizes and develops under higher androgen levels, then the odds of sensation seeking are increased.  There is empirical evidence for this in terms of studies basic on finger length ratios and salivary testosterone in men, and also observations that men are more likely to indulge in sensation-seeking activities than women.

References

  1. Jones, B. C., DeBruine, L. M., Little, A. C., Conway, C. A., Welling, L. L. M., & Smith, F. (2007). Sensation seeking and men’s face preferences. Evol Hum Behav, 28, 439-446.
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Comments

Interesting. See also Bogaert, A. F., & Fisher, W. A. (1995). Predictors of university men’s number of sexual partners. Journal of Sex Research, 32, 119–130. All of these variables were correlated with sensation seeking:

- attractiveness
- dominance
- hypermasculinity (0.4)
- Eysenck psychoticism
- number of sexual partners

Though none of these variables were related to current testosterone levels. There is a lot of other interesting stuff in that study also.

I can think of a more likely explanation. The neurophysiology of overall stronger sensation seeking can be roughly modeled as a need for overall stronger stimuli to engage one’s mind. Therefore, heterosexual men who need stronger stimuli in general to stimulate their mind disproportionately favor more feminine women and possibly have a stronger interest in women’s attractiveness also.

I like your explanation more than theirs. Another possible explanation is that more masculine men are just wired to be attracted to more feminine women.

What may cause stronger sensation seeking? The authors mention some research on prenatal and adult exposure to testosterone. If the brain organizes and develops under higher androgen levels, then the odds of sensation seeking are increased.

I wonder if this relationship is linear? If there is enough prenatal T to disturb the fetus, then what would happen to sensation seeking? See for instance Gilmartin's study of love-shy men who sound low in sensation seeking, highly sensitive physically, developmentally disturbed, and hypomasculinized.

What is your take on the attractiveness of Megan Fox, named sexiest woman by FHM in both their UK and US polls?

HughRistik: The relationship between testosterone and sensation seeking is unlikely to be linear (straight line relationship), and testosterone by itself only explains a minority of the variation in sensation seeking.

Len: Megan Fox is a sexy woman indeed.

Aimee: The plastic surgery that Megan Fox has had is minor. She had a mild nose bump, which did not detract from her overall attractiveness, and she didn’t need to fix it.

Lets take a good look at Megan Fox:

Megan Fox Pictures, Images and Photos

MEGAN FOX Pictures, Images and Photos

megan fox Pictures, Images and Photos

Megan fox Pictures, Images and Photos

fox Pictures, Images and Photos

blue n red dress Pictures, Images and Photos

Megan Fox Pictures, Images and Photos

Eric Roth of the VES with Megan Fox Pictures, Images and Photos

Megan Fox introducing Steven's montage Pictures, Images and Photos

megan fox 6 Pictures, Images and Photos

megan fox cherry Pictures, Images and Photos

Clearly, the woman is not feminine at all. She has higher set cheekbones, a small chest, wide shoulders, her cheeks are not very ample and she does not have the width aspect of beauty, she has broad shoulders, she is tall and her face is long.

She does have a beautiful face though and although her high cheekbones may be due to her half Native AMerican ancestry, the rest of her still just isn't feminine. period. She is attractive, but it is obviously not due to feminization but simply good bone structure and good genes. Her full lips, blue eyes, dark thick hair, good structure in general, symmetry, make her look good but feminization plays no part it seems in her attraction.

You look at this pic and it makes you think she is feminine but it is clearly airbrushed. Her breasts are practically non-existent without a wonder bra:

mgfx Pictures, Images and Photos

Megan Fox Pictures, Images and Photos

Godis: Megan Fox has a mixture of feminine and masculine features. In my opinion calling her not feminine at all is an exaggeration. Your choice of photos is biased, so please allow me to be equally biased in picking counter-examples. :)

She does have broad shoulders and a relatively flat backside. On the other hand though, she has an hourglass figure with wide hips and a very thin waist. You are wrong that she's tall, because she's in fact fairly short at about 5 ft 4.5 in.

As for the "non-existent" breasts, most of your pictures come from a time when she was at her skinniest. Check out her teen photos, she was a probably C-cup then. She gained some of the weight back recently.

I don't have time to discuss her face right now, maybe I will follow up later.

I am glad you find Megan Fox beautiful! I was starting to think you weird because of all those - hope you won't be offended - BORING-looking women you posted. LOL. :D

I am glad you find Megan Fox beautiful! I was starting to think you weird because of all those - hope you won't be offended - BORING-looking women you posted. LOL. :D

Where?

The pictures you posted Erik of Fox getting near that black car seem to suggest it, but I hit up some bikini pictures of her and I don't see an hourglass figure in sight.

Here's a site with a bunch of bikini photos of her:
http://www.zimbio.com/Bikini+Celebrities/articles/1217/Megan+Fox+newest+bikini+pictures

Where's the hourglass figure? If you see it there, then please explain it to me.

Megan Fox is not very feminine nor very masculine IMO, she is very attractive but she does appear to be more masculine than feminine.

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