Changes in salivary estradiol predict changes in women's preferences for vocal masculinity

Katarzyna Pisanski*, Amanda C. Hahn, Claire I. Fisher, Lisa M. DeBruine, David R. Feinberg, Benedict C. Jones

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Although many studies have reported that women's preferences for masculine physical characteristics in men change systematically during the menstrual cycle, the hormonal mechanisms underpinning these changes are currently poorly understood. Previous studies investigating the relationships between measured hormone levels and women's masculinity preferences tested only judgments of men's facial attractiveness. Results of these studies suggested that preferences for masculine characteristics in men's faces were related to either women's estradiol or testosterone levels. To investigate the hormonal correlates of within-woman variation in masculinity preferences further, here we measured 62 women's salivary estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone levels and their preferences for masculine characteristics in men's voices in five weekly test sessions. Multilevel modeling of these data showed that changes in salivary estradiol were the best predictor of changes in women's preferences for vocal masculinity. These results complement other recent research implicating estradiol in women's mate preferences, attention to courtship signals, sexual motivation, and sexual strategies, and are the first to link women's voice preferences directly to measured hormone levels.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)493-497
Number of pages5
JournalHormones and Behavior
Volume66
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2014

Keywords

  • attraction
  • estrogen
  • mate choice
  • mate preferences
  • progesterone
  • testosterone
  • voice

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