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Science Facial cues may help you decide on Mr. or Miss Right
Science Facial cues may help you decide on Mr. or Miss Right | Facial cues may help you decide on Mr. or Miss Right |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Thursday, 10 April 2008 | |
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Researchers from Durham University (England), St. Andrew University (Scotland), and Aberdeen University (Scotland) studied seven hundred heterosexual adult men and women who were in their twenties. The abstract to their paper stated, “Previous studies have documented variation in sexual behavior between individuals leading to the notion of ‘restricted’ individuals (i.e., people who prefer long-term relationships) and ‘unrestricted’ individuals (i.e., people who are open to short-term relationships).” “This distinction is often referred to as sociosexual orientation.” ‘Observers have been previously found to distinguish sociosexuality from video footage of individuals, although the specific cues used have not been identified.” Thus, the researchers decided to assess “… the ability of observers to judge sexual strategy based specifically on cues in both facial composites and real faces. "[They] also assessed how observers' perceptions of the masculinity/femininity and attractiveness of faces relate to the sociosexual orientation of the pictured individuals. Observers were generally able to identify restricted vs. unrestricted individuals from cues in both composites and real faces.” English psychologist Lynda Boothroyd, of the Department of Psychology, at the University of Durham (Durham, England) and the School of Psychology at the University of St. Andrews (Fife, Scotland), was an author of the study. Boothroyd stated that their results found that women looking for short-term sexual relationships generally had wide eyes and large lips. And, not so surprisingly, the study found that men found such women attractive. On the other hand, men who were looking for long-term relationships were less masculine that most men. In fact, the less [more] masculine the men, then the more [less] likely—according to the study—they were to remain faithful to their partner and to be good parents to children. The study also found that both men and women generally were more attracted to people who had characteristics that were opposites to themselves. Dr. Boothroyd said that initial impressions of the face were found to be a good way to assess potential partners or foes. She stated, "These [first impressions] will then give way over time to more in-depth knowledge of that person as you get to know them better, and may change with age.” [Medical News Today: “Your Face May Tell People What Kind Of Relationship You Seek”] The study was published in the March 27, 2008 issue of the journal Evolution and Human Behavior under the title “Facial correlates of sociosexuality.” The authors were Lynda G. Boothroyd, Benedict C. Jones, D. Michael Burt, Lisa M. DeBruine, and David I. Perrett. You can also contribute to an online study at Dr. Boothroyd’s website. Go to Online Research, specifically “Facial Attraction 2008.”
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