Table 3.
Outline of predictions (a) and significant results (b)
| (a) Predictions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable ↓ | Women | Men | ||
| Perceived sex-typicality | Feminine faces perceived more attractive | Masculine faces perceived more attractive | ||
| Sexual shape dimorphism (SShD) | Female-typical SShD perceived as more feminine and attractive | Male-typical SShD perceived as more masculine and attractive | ||
| Morphological averageness | More average facial configurations perceived as more attractive | More average facial configurations perceived as more attractive | ||
| Facial skin lightness1 | Lighter faces perceived as more attractive and feminine | Darker faces perceived as more masculine | ||
| Relative facial width (fWHR) | Wider faces perceived as less feminine | Wider faces perceived as more masculine (Geniole et al. 2015) | ||
| Relative weight (BMI)2 | Heavier stimuli perceived as less attractive | Heavier stimuli perceived as less attractive | ||
| Age2 | Younger stimuli perceived as more attractive and feminine | Younger stimuli perceived as more attractive | ||
| (b) Results based on path analyses, with non-significant trends with p-value [>0.05, <0.1] omitted | ||||
| Variable ↓ | Women | (Attr|Fem)3 | Men | (Attr|Masc)3 |
| Perceived sex-typicality | Femininity perceived as more attractive across samples | 5|NA | Masculinity perceived as more attractive in two samples | 2|NA |
| Sexual Shape Dimorphism | Female-typical SShD perceived as more attractive in one, more feminine in two samples | 1|2 | Male-typical SShD perceived as more masculine in three samples | 0|3 |
| Morphological averageness | More average faces perceived as more feminine and attractive in two samples | 2|2 | More average faces perceived as more attractive in two samples | 2|0 |
| Facial skin lightness | Lighter women perceived as more attractive and feminine in one sample | 1|1 | Darker men perceived as more masculine in three samples | 0|3 |
| Relative facial width (fWHR) | No effect | 0|0 | Non-significant trends | 0|0 |
| Relative weight (BMI)2 | Lower BMI perceived as more attractive in two samples, more feminine in one sample | 2|1 | Higher BMI perceived as more masculine in one sample, less attractive in one sample | 1|1 |
| Age2 | Younger women perceived as more feminine in one sample | 0|1 | Younger men perceived as more attractive in one, older men perceived as more masculine in three samples | 1|3 |
1
Predictions within a given sample (e.g. darker/lighter within an Iranian male sample).
2
Predictions and results based on age and BMI are not further discussed because they go beyond the scope of the current study. For a more detailed review and anticipated effects of variables which were not discussed in the Introduction, see Sections S1 and S2.5 in Supplementary Material.
3
Significant result for Attractiveness|Perceived Sex-typicality; N out of five female and five male samples, from four samples for each sex for BMI.