February 13, 2005
Male faces with feminine features more attractive:
Recently released results from Dr Tony Little and his team, suggest that males with more feminine features are more widely attractive to women. Women who consider themselves highly attractive however, are more likely to go for classically masculine faces.
Dr Little is interested in identifying the features of attractiveness and explaining why we might have evolved to recognise and seek-out beauty.
The link might be explained by the fact that some physically attractive features are linked to levels of hormones (such as testosterone) that are present during development. These are also known to have an influence on fertility and coupling behaviour.
The researchers based their findings on data gathered from staff and students at the University of Liverpool, but have an online lab where you can take part in similar experiments.
Link to the research team's online lab.
Link to BBC News story on the research findings.
