TY - JOUR
T1 - Sex differences in attraction to familiar and unfamiliar opposite-sex faces
T2 - men prefer novelty and women prefer familiarity
AU - Little, Anthony C.
AU - Debruine, Lisa M.
AU - Jones, Benedict C.
PY - 2013/6/6
Y1 - 2013/6/6
N2 - Familiarity is attractive in many types of stimuli and exposure generally increases feelings of liking. However, men desire a greater number of sexual partners than women, suggesting a preference for novelty. We examined sex differences in preferences for familiarity. In Study 1 (N = 83 women, 63 men), we exposed individuals to faces twice and found that faces were judged as more attractive on the second rating, reflecting attraction to familiar faces, with the exception that men's ratings of female faces decreased on the second rating, demonstrating attraction to novelty. In Studies 2 (N = 42 women, 28 men) and 3 (N = 51 women, 25 men), exposure particularly decreased men's ratings of women's attractiveness for short-term relationships and their sexiness. In Study 4 (N = 64 women, 50 men), women's attraction to faces was positively related to self-rated similarity to their current partner's face, while the effect was significantly weaker for men. Potentially, men's attraction to novelty may reflect an adaptation promoting the acquisition of a high number of sexual partners.
AB - Familiarity is attractive in many types of stimuli and exposure generally increases feelings of liking. However, men desire a greater number of sexual partners than women, suggesting a preference for novelty. We examined sex differences in preferences for familiarity. In Study 1 (N = 83 women, 63 men), we exposed individuals to faces twice and found that faces were judged as more attractive on the second rating, reflecting attraction to familiar faces, with the exception that men's ratings of female faces decreased on the second rating, demonstrating attraction to novelty. In Studies 2 (N = 42 women, 28 men) and 3 (N = 51 women, 25 men), exposure particularly decreased men's ratings of women's attractiveness for short-term relationships and their sexiness. In Study 4 (N = 64 women, 50 men), women's attraction to faces was positively related to self-rated similarity to their current partner's face, while the effect was significantly weaker for men. Potentially, men's attraction to novelty may reflect an adaptation promoting the acquisition of a high number of sexual partners.
KW - attractiveness
KW - face processing
KW - familiarity
KW - novelty
KW - preference
KW - sex differences
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84902378952&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10508-013-0120-2
DO - 10.1007/s10508-013-0120-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 23740467
AN - SCOPUS:84902378952
SN - 0004-0002
VL - 43
SP - 973
EP - 981
JO - Archives of Sexual Behavior
JF - Archives of Sexual Behavior
IS - 5
ER -