What does women's facial attractiveness signal? Implications for an evolutionary perspective on appearance enhancement

Benedict C. Jones; Alex L. Jones; Victor Kenji Medeiros Shiramizu; Claire Anderson

doi:10.1007/s10508-021-01955-4

What does women's facial attractiveness signal? Implications for an evolutionary perspective on appearance enhancement

Benedict C. Jones, Alex L. Jones, Victor Kenji Medeiros Shiramizu, Claire Anderson

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

27 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

In their Target Article, Davis and Arnocky (2020) suggest that evolutionary theories of mate preferences can contribute to our understanding of why appearance-enhancement behaviors are seemingly ubiquitous. We support their argument that an interdisciplinary approach, in which evolutionary and other perspectives are fully integrated, will give us a more complete understanding of appearance-enhancement behaviors. We also agree that evolutionary theories of mate preferences have the potential to provide new insights into why such behaviors are so common. Here we use the literature on women's facial attractiveness to highlight an important limitation of this argument: uncertainty about precisely what is signalled by physical attractiveness.

Original language	English
Number of pages	5
Journal	Archives of Sexual Behavior
Early online date	17 Mar 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-01955-4
Publication status	Published - 17 Mar 2021

Keywords

women
facial attractiveness
signal
evolutionary perspective
appearance enhancement

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10.1007/s10508-021-01955-4Licence: CC BY 4.0

Jones-etal-ASB-2021-What-does-womens-facial-attractiveness-signalFinal published version, 522 KBLicence: CC BY 4.0

Cite this

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abstract = "In their Target Article, Davis and Arnocky (2020) suggest that evolutionary theories of mate preferences can contribute to our understanding of why appearance-enhancement behaviors are seemingly ubiquitous. We support their argument that an interdisciplinary approach, in which evolutionary and other perspectives are fully integrated, will give us a more complete understanding of appearance-enhancement behaviors. We also agree that evolutionary theories of mate preferences have the potential to provide new insights into why such behaviors are so common. Here we use the literature on women's facial attractiveness to highlight an important limitation of this argument: uncertainty about precisely what is signalled by physical attractiveness. ",

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AU - Anderson, Claire

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N2 - In their Target Article, Davis and Arnocky (2020) suggest that evolutionary theories of mate preferences can contribute to our understanding of why appearance-enhancement behaviors are seemingly ubiquitous. We support their argument that an interdisciplinary approach, in which evolutionary and other perspectives are fully integrated, will give us a more complete understanding of appearance-enhancement behaviors. We also agree that evolutionary theories of mate preferences have the potential to provide new insights into why such behaviors are so common. Here we use the literature on women's facial attractiveness to highlight an important limitation of this argument: uncertainty about precisely what is signalled by physical attractiveness.

AB - In their Target Article, Davis and Arnocky (2020) suggest that evolutionary theories of mate preferences can contribute to our understanding of why appearance-enhancement behaviors are seemingly ubiquitous. We support their argument that an interdisciplinary approach, in which evolutionary and other perspectives are fully integrated, will give us a more complete understanding of appearance-enhancement behaviors. We also agree that evolutionary theories of mate preferences have the potential to provide new insights into why such behaviors are so common. Here we use the literature on women's facial attractiveness to highlight an important limitation of this argument: uncertainty about precisely what is signalled by physical attractiveness.

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KW - facial attractiveness

KW - signal

KW - evolutionary perspective

KW - appearance enhancement

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SN - 0004-0002

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JF - Archives of Sexual Behavior

ER -

What does women's facial attractiveness signal? Implications for an evolutionary perspective on appearance enhancement

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Keywords

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