Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences logoLink to Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
. 2004 Mar 22;271(1539):635–640. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2003.2649

Concordant preferences for opposite-sex signals? Human pheromones and facial characteristics.

R Elisabeth Cornwell 1, Lynda Boothroyd 1, D Michael Burt 1, David R Feinberg 1, Ben C Jones 1, Anthony C Little 1, Robert Pitman 1, Susie Whiten 1, David I Perrett 1
PMCID: PMC1691642  PMID: 15156922

Abstract

We have investigated whether preferences for masculine and feminine characteristics are correlated across two modalities, olfaction and vision. In study 1, subjects rated the pleasantness of putative male (4,16-androstadien-3-one; 5alpha-androst-16-en-3-one) and female (1,3,5 (10),16-estratetraen-3-ol) pheromones, and chose the most attractive face shape from a masculine-feminine continuum for a long- and a short-term relationship. Study 2 replicated study 1 and further explored the effects of relationship context on pheromone ratings. For long-term relationships, women's preferences for masculine face shapes correlated with ratings of 4,16-androstadien-3-one and men's preferences for feminine face shapes correlated with ratings of 1,3,5(10),16-estratetraen-3-ol. These studies link sex-specific preferences for putative human sex pheromones and sexually dimorphic facial characteristics. Our findings suggest that putative sex pheromones and sexually dimorphic facial characteristics convey common information about the quality of potential mates.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (92.9 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Black S. L., Biron C. Androstenol as a human pheromone: no effect on perceived physical attractiveness. Behav Neural Biol. 1982 Mar;34(3):326–330. doi: 10.1016/s0163-1047(82)91711-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Buss D. M., Schmitt D. P. Sexual strategies theory: an evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychol Rev. 1993 Apr;100(2):204–232. doi: 10.1037/0033-295x.100.2.204. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Collins SA. Men's voices and women's choices. Anim Behav. 2000 Dec;60(6):773–780. doi: 10.1006/anbe.2000.1523. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Cowley J. J., Brooksbank B. W. Human exposure to putative pheromones and changes in aspects of social behaviour. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 1991 Oct;39(4B):647–659. doi: 10.1016/0960-0760(91)90264-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gangestad S. W., Simpson J. A. The evolution of human mating: trade-offs and strategic pluralism. Behav Brain Sci. 2000 Aug;23(4):573–644. doi: 10.1017/s0140525x0000337x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gangestad S. W., Thornhill R. Menstrual cycle variation in women's preferences for the scent of symmetrical men. Proc Biol Sci. 1998 May 22;265(1399):927–933. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1998.0380. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Jacob S., McClintock M. K. Psychological state and mood effects of steroidal chemosignals in women and men. Horm Behav. 2000 Feb;37(1):57–78. doi: 10.1006/hbeh.1999.1559. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kohl J. V., Atzmueller M., Fink B., Grammer K. Human pheromones: integrating neuroendocrinology and ethology. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2001 Oct;22(5):309–321. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kwan T. K., Trafford D. J., Makin H. L., Mallet A. I., Gower D. B. GC-MS studies of 16-androstenes and other C19 steroids in human semen. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 1992 Nov;43(6):549–556. doi: 10.1016/0960-0760(92)90243-c. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Little A. C., Burt D. M., Penton-Voak I. S., Perrett D. I. Self-perceived attractiveness influences human female preferences for sexual dimorphism and symmetry in male faces. Proc Biol Sci. 2001 Jan 7;268(1462):39–44. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2000.1327. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Little A. C., Jones B. C., Penton-Voak I. S., Burt D. M., Perrett D. I. Partnership status and the temporal context of relationships influence human female preferences for sexual dimorphism in male face shape. Proc Biol Sci. 2002 Jun 7;269(1496):1095–1100. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2002.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mazur A., Booth A. Testosterone and dominance in men. Behav Brain Sci. 1998 Jun;21(3):353–397. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Monti-Bloch L., Grosser B. I. Effect of putative pheromones on the electrical activity of the human vomeronasal organ and olfactory epithelium. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 1991 Oct;39(4B):573–582. doi: 10.1016/0960-0760(91)90255-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Morofushi M., Shinohara K., Funabashi T., Kimura F. Positive relationship between menstrual synchrony and ability to smell 5alpha-androst-16-en-3alpha-ol. Chem Senses. 2000 Aug;25(4):407–411. doi: 10.1093/chemse/25.4.407. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Nixon A., Mallet A. I., Gower D. B. Simultaneous quantification of five odorous steroids (16-androstenes) in the axillary hair of men. J Steroid Biochem. 1988 May;29(5):505–510. doi: 10.1016/0022-4731(88)90185-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Penton-Voak I. S., Jones B. C., Little A. C., Baker S., Tiddeman B., Burt D. M., Perrett D. I. Symmetry, sexual dimorphism in facial proportions and male facial attractiveness. Proc Biol Sci. 2001 Aug 7;268(1476):1617–1623. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2001.1703. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Penton-Voak I. S., Perrett D. I., Castles D. L., Kobayashi T., Burt D. M., Murray L. K., Minamisawa R. Menstrual cycle alters face preference. Nature. 1999 Jun 24;399(6738):741–742. doi: 10.1038/21557. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Perrett D. I., Lee K. J., Penton-Voak I., Rowland D., Yoshikawa S., Burt D. M., Henzi S. P., Castles D. L., Akamatsu S. Effects of sexual dimorphism on facial attractiveness. Nature. 1998 Aug 27;394(6696):884–887. doi: 10.1038/29772. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Perrett David I., Penton-Voak Ian S., Little Anthony C., Tiddeman Bernard P., Burt D. Michael, Schmidt Natalie, Oxley Roz, Kinloch Nicholas, Barrett Louise. Facial attractiveness judgements reflect learning of parental age characteristics. Proc Biol Sci. 2002 May 7;269(1494):873–880. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2002.1971. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Rekwot P. I., Ogwu D., Oyedipe E. O., Sekoni V. O. The role of pheromones and biostimulation in animal reproduction. Anim Reprod Sci. 2001 Mar 30;65(3-4):157–170. doi: 10.1016/s0378-4320(00)00223-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Rikowski A., Grammer K. Human body odour, symmetry and attractiveness. Proc Biol Sci. 1999 May 7;266(1422):869–874. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1999.0717. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Savic I., Berglund H., Gulyas B., Roland P. Smelling of odorous sex hormone-like compounds causes sex-differentiated hypothalamic activations in humans. Neuron. 2001 Aug 30;31(4):661–668. doi: 10.1016/s0896-6273(01)00390-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Singh D., Bronstad P. M. Female body odour is a potential cue to ovulation. Proc Biol Sci. 2001 Apr 22;268(1469):797–801. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2001.1589. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Tovée M. J., Maisey D. S., Emery J. L., Cornelissen P. L. Visual cues to female physical attractiveness. Proc Biol Sci. 1999 Jan 22;266(1415):211–218. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1999.0624. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences are provided here courtesy of The Royal Society

RESOURCES