Women can tell a man's attitude to sexual relationships by the look on his face, according to new research from Durham University which gives deeper insight into mate attractiveness. The scientists involved say the research shows people can use their perceptions to make more informed partner selection depending on the type of relationship they are pursuing. In the study, participants were asked to judge the attractiveness and attitudes to sex of the opposite sex from their facial photographs. These perceptual judgments were then compared with the actual attitudes and behaviors of the individuals in the photographs, which had been determined through a detailed questionnaire.
The researchers found that the men and women taking part could generally judge from photographs who would be more interested in a short-term sexual relationship. In the first study sample of 153 participants, 72 per cent of people correctly identified the attitudes from photographs more than half of the time.
Interestingly, the researchers also found that women who were open to short-term sexual relationships were usually seen by men as more attractive - although the researchers can't say precisely why. The men who were most open to casual sex were generally perceived as being more masculine-looking, with facial features including squarer jaws, larger nose and smaller eyes.
"Our results suggest that although some people can judge the sexual strategy of others simply from looking at their face, people are not always sure about their judgments possibly because the cues are very subtle. Yet preferences for different types of face were actually quite strong," said study leader Dr Lynda Boothroyd. "This shows that these initial impressions may be part of how we assess potential mates - or potential rivals - when we first meet them. These 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."
The new study adds to previous ones that have shown that people can judge a lot about a person from their face, including things like health and even some personality traits like introversion. This, however, is the first study to show that people are also sensitive to subtle facial signals about the type of romantic relationships that others might enjoy.
Related:
Facial Masculinity Indicates Questionable Character Traits
Ovulation Gets Men All Hot And Bothered
Women Prefer Cads To Dads
Source: Durham University
