What Men Want;
Exploring the likelihood that attractive men prefer feminine
women.
By: Fiona Garvey, Grace Grotz, Sarah Jones, and Lara O’Donoghue
Background - Study by Docherty and
colleagues
Question: Do more attractive women show stronger preferences for male facial
masculinity?
Study 1 Study 2
Women rated on attractiveness
Women rated their own
scale 1-7 by third party men
attractiveness scale 1-7
and women
Chose preference for men for
Chose preference for men for
short term relationship
short term relationship
Chose preference for men for
Chose preference for men for
long term relationship
long term relationship
Docherty et al. study continued
Findings:
1. women with higher personal attractiveness
ratings preferred masculinized male faces for
short term relationships
2. ‘objective’ attractiveness did not correlate with
these preferences
Example pair of faces.
left masculinized, right feminized
Docherty et al. study continued
Why masculinity preferred generally?
→ provide stronger, healthier offspring
Cost of masculinity?
→ more likely to leave after mating
→ loss of parental care
Why more self-believed attractive women prefer more masculine faces?
→ think they can afford the cost of parental care that comes with masculine mates due
to their belief they could find another mate easily
Our study: hypothesis & justification
look at men’s preferences for masculinity in
01 GOAL
women’s faces
Do men’s perceptions of their own attractiveness
02 QUESTION
impact their choices in mates?
Perception of own attractiveness will affect choice in
mates, and men who rate themselves as being more
03 HYPOTHESIS attractive on a linear scale of 0-10 will be more
attracted to feminine female faces than masculine
ones.
men prefer feminine mates because they can invest
04 REASONING less in their offspring and potentially have more
children
helps us understand trends in attraction
05 WHY INTERESTING
& relevant to daily life
Methods
Anonymous Survey
● Google Forms
● Adult men attracted to women
● N = 115
Self-Attractiveness Scale
Methods
Of these faces, which do you find more attractive?
Feminized (-1) Average (0) Masculinized (+1)
www.osf.io/9b4y7. Docherty et al.
Predictions
Self-Rated Attractiveness vs. Average Preference for Masculinity
Hypothesis Correct: higher attractiveness Hypothesis Incorrect: no correlation, all
prefer less masculine & more feminine prefer average
Results
Results
Results
Discussion
Implications
● No significant correlation between self-rated attractiveness and
preference for feminized or masculinized faces
● Men, in general, preferred feminized faces
Strengths and Limitations
Strengths
● Successfully gathered 115 responses from participants that
meet the criteria
Limitations
● 82% of participants rated
attractiveness above average (5)
● Lack of diversity of subjects and
stimuli
Remaining Questions and Future Studies
● What would the results look like with a more diverse stimuli?
● Do women attracted to other women display any preference for
feminized or masculinized faces?
References
Docherty, C., Lee, A. J., Hahn, A. C., DeBruine, L. M., & Jones, B. C. (2020). Do more attractive women
show stronger preferences for male facial masculinity?. Evolution and Human Behavior 41(4), 312-317.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2020.05.005
Jones, B., & DeBruine, L. (2017, May 10). Supplemental information for "no evidence that preferences
for facial masculinity track changes in women's hormonal status". Retrieved from https://osf.io/9b4y7/
