Illness in childhood predicts face preferences in adulthood

Mícheál De Barra; Lisa M. deBruine; Benedict C. Jones; Zahid Hayat Mahmud; Valerie A. Curtis

doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.07.001

Illness in childhood predicts face preferences in adulthood

Mícheál De Barra, Lisa M. deBruine, Benedict C. Jones, Zahid Hayat Mahmud, Valerie A. Curtis

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The value of different mate choices may depend on the local pathogen ecology and on personal infection susceptibility: when there is a high risk of infection, choosing a healthy or immunocompetent mate may be particularly important. Frequency of childhood illness may act as a cue of the ecological and immunological factors relevant to mate preferences. Consistent with this proposal, we found that childhood illness - and frequency of diarrhea in particular - was positively correlated with preferences for exaggerated sex-typical characteristics in opposite-sex, but not same-sex, faces. Moreover, this relationship was stronger among individuals with poorer current health. These data suggest that childhood illness may play a role in calibrating adult mate preferences and have implications for theories of disease-avoidance psychology, life-history strategy and cross-cultural differences in mate preferences.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	384-389
Number of pages	6
Journal	Evolution and Human Behavior
Volume	34
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.07.001
Publication status	Published - 1 Nov 2013

Keywords

behavioral immune system
facial attractiveness
infectious disease
predictive adaptive response
sexual dimorphism

Access to Document

10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.07.001

Link to publication in Scopus

Cite this

De Barra, M., deBruine, L. M., Jones, B. C., Mahmud, Z. H., & Curtis, V. A. (2013). Illness in childhood predicts face preferences in adulthood. Evolution and Human Behavior, 34(6), 384-389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.07.001

@article{96dd6d600bc142d7b2125426e9cb866a,

title = "Illness in childhood predicts face preferences in adulthood",

abstract = "The value of different mate choices may depend on the local pathogen ecology and on personal infection susceptibility: when there is a high risk of infection, choosing a healthy or immunocompetent mate may be particularly important. Frequency of childhood illness may act as a cue of the ecological and immunological factors relevant to mate preferences. Consistent with this proposal, we found that childhood illness - and frequency of diarrhea in particular - was positively correlated with preferences for exaggerated sex-typical characteristics in opposite-sex, but not same-sex, faces. Moreover, this relationship was stronger among individuals with poorer current health. These data suggest that childhood illness may play a role in calibrating adult mate preferences and have implications for theories of disease-avoidance psychology, life-history strategy and cross-cultural differences in mate preferences.",

keywords = "behavioral immune system, facial attractiveness, infectious disease, predictive adaptive response, sexual dimorphism",

author = "{De Barra}, M{\'i}che{\'a}l and deBruine, {Lisa M.} and Jones, {Benedict C.} and Mahmud, {Zahid Hayat} and Curtis, {Valerie A.}",

year = "2013",

month = nov,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.07.001",

language = "English",

volume = "34",

pages = "384--389",

number = "6",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Illness in childhood predicts face preferences in adulthood

AU - De Barra, Mícheál

AU - deBruine, Lisa M.

AU - Jones, Benedict C.

AU - Mahmud, Zahid Hayat

AU - Curtis, Valerie A.

PY - 2013/11/1

Y1 - 2013/11/1

N2 - The value of different mate choices may depend on the local pathogen ecology and on personal infection susceptibility: when there is a high risk of infection, choosing a healthy or immunocompetent mate may be particularly important. Frequency of childhood illness may act as a cue of the ecological and immunological factors relevant to mate preferences. Consistent with this proposal, we found that childhood illness - and frequency of diarrhea in particular - was positively correlated with preferences for exaggerated sex-typical characteristics in opposite-sex, but not same-sex, faces. Moreover, this relationship was stronger among individuals with poorer current health. These data suggest that childhood illness may play a role in calibrating adult mate preferences and have implications for theories of disease-avoidance psychology, life-history strategy and cross-cultural differences in mate preferences.

AB - The value of different mate choices may depend on the local pathogen ecology and on personal infection susceptibility: when there is a high risk of infection, choosing a healthy or immunocompetent mate may be particularly important. Frequency of childhood illness may act as a cue of the ecological and immunological factors relevant to mate preferences. Consistent with this proposal, we found that childhood illness - and frequency of diarrhea in particular - was positively correlated with preferences for exaggerated sex-typical characteristics in opposite-sex, but not same-sex, faces. Moreover, this relationship was stronger among individuals with poorer current health. These data suggest that childhood illness may play a role in calibrating adult mate preferences and have implications for theories of disease-avoidance psychology, life-history strategy and cross-cultural differences in mate preferences.

KW - behavioral immune system

KW - facial attractiveness

KW - infectious disease

KW - predictive adaptive response

KW - sexual dimorphism

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84885372441&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.07.001

DO - 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.07.001

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84885372441

VL - 34

SP - 384

EP - 389

IS - 6

ER -