- So you thought it was testosterone that
makes a man of the '90s sexy? Maybe not. It may actually be estrogen that
attracts women, according to a just-published study.
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- The male sex hormone testosterone increases
muscle bulk and, in evolutionary theory, is associated with a male's reproductive
success.
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- But, maybe not with modern women, reports
David Perrett of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and colleagues
in the current issue of the journal Nature.
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- Perrett's assertion is the result of
a study in which people were shown computer generated images of male and
female faces, morphed to embellish male or female characteristics. Both
sexes said feminine facial characteristics were the most physically attractive
in the opposite sex.
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- Highly masculinized faces were associated
with negative behaviors and were said to look "colder," "less
kind" and "less cooperative" than the feminized images.
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- Men and women's faces are shaped by hormonal
changes at puberty. Testosterone causes the development of facial hair,
a larger jaw and heavy brow in men, while in women, estrogen makes the
skin softer, the lips fuller and suppresses bone growth in the jaw and
brow.
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- Over the course of millions of years,
women's preference for feminine looking males may help explain the biological
trend toward a more feminine look in the species as a whole, Perrett says.
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- But his results are controversial.
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- "Preferences are culturally determined
not biologically driven," says Dane Archer, a specialist in non-verbal
communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "Physical
attraction plays a big role in the first stages of courtship, but after
that other factors like values, beliefs and personal traits become important."
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- "Nothing is really feminine or masculine
in a face, except for the facial hair," says Dahlia Zaidel, a professor
of psychology at University of California, Los Angeles.
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