Women, mating, and facial features of men.

[TheRussian]

Here are a few articles that you may find interesting:

http://www.livescience.com/health/070807_macho_men.html

Women See 'Good Mate' Traits in Effeminate Men
By Andrea Thompson, LiveScience Staff Writer

posted: 07 August 2007 07:02 pm ET

Women see the traits that make a good husband in male faces that tend toward female, a new study finds.

Researchers asked 400 British men and women to judge digitally altered pictures of male faces shown without any hair, ears, neck, shoulder or clothing visible and made to look more masculine or feminine.

Two male faces, one more masculine and one more feminine, were presented side by side and the participants were asked to select the face they thought showed more of particular traits including dominance, ambition, wealth, faithfulness, commitment, parenting ability and warmth.

Faces with more masculine features (such as a square jaw, larger nose and smaller eyes), were judged to me more dominant, less faithful, worse parents and as having less warm personalities than those with more feminine features (such as fuller lips, wide eyes and thinner, more curved eyebrows).

"This research shows a high amount of agreement between women about what they see, personality wise, when asked to 'judge a book by its cover'," said lead author Lynda Boothroyd of Durham University in the United Kingdom.

"They may well use that impression of someone to decide whether or not to engage with that person," Boothroyd added. "That decision-making process all depends on what a woman is looking for in a relationship at that time of her life."

Another recent study found that women who were in the fertile stage of their menstrual cycle preferred more masculine-looking males for short-term relationships, but more feminine-looking males while they were less fertile.

Other studies have also found a link between a male's perceived manliness and his desirability to women as a long-term partner.

The apparent healthiness of the faces in the new study, published in the current issue of the journal Personality and Individual Differences, also played a factor in desirability. Those faces that had better complexions were seen as more desirable in terms of all the personality traits.

"Our results contradict claims that machismo denotes fitness and disease immunity," said David Perrett of the University of St Andrews in Scotland. "Masculinity may buy you dominance but not necessarily tip-top physical condition. Instead, women see a healthy guy as the source of wealth, and fit for family life."

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And here is another interesting one:

http://www.livescience.com/health/07082 ... tures.html

Study: Chick Magnets Today Look Like Cavemen
By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Staff Writer

posted: 22 August 2007 09:17 am ET

Guys with bulldog-like faces have been chick magnets throughout human evolutionary history.

A recent study of the skulls of human ancestors and modern humans finds that women, and thereby, evolution, selected for males with relatively short upper faces. The region between the brow and the upper-lip is scrunched proportionately to the overall size of their heads.

Among the men who fit the bill: Will Smith and Brad Pitt.

In a past study, researchers found a similar facial pattern in chimpanzees, with males having relatively shorter and broader faces compared with females, controlling for body size.

Men with "mini mugs" might have been most attractive to the opposite sex and thus most likely to attract mates for reproduction, passing along the striking features to the next generation and so forth, said lead study author Eleanor Weston, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London.

"The evolution of facial appearance is central to understanding what makes men and women attractive to each other," Weston said. "We have found the distance between the lip and brow was probably immensely important to what made us attractive in the past, as it does now."

Whereas past studies have suggested facial symmetry and facial masculinity play roles in this game of desire, none have provided evidence of an evolutionary shaping of male and female faces.

"I think it's a very nice approach," said Randy Thornhill, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of New Mexico, referring to the study. Though not involved in it, Thornhill agrees with the finding that certain facial features evolved due to sexual selection.

Facial coordinates

The researchers calculated certain facial coordinates on 68 males and 53 female skulls from a contemporary native southern Africa population ranging in age from infant to 30 years old. Measurements included distances between the point between the eye brows and upper lip and from cheekbone to cheekbone.

Weston and her colleagues also examined facial data from fossil hominin skulls dating back to 2.6 million years ago, unearthed in Kenyan deposits as part of the Koobi Fora Research Project IV. These skulls represented five species: Homo erectus, Homo ergaster, Paranthropus boisei, Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus. These facial coordinates were then compared with the contemporary coordinates.

In spite of their bulkier bodies (about 15 percent more massive than women's bodies), and similarly broader faces, men have upper faces similar in height to women's faces, the scientists found. But compared with the rest of the head, a guy's mid-face is compressed. The differences held throughout human history.

A simple ratio of upper face length to broadness could serve as a proxy for facial attractiveness, the scientists say in a report on their research published in the online journal PLoS ONE.

Masculine appeal

The scientists are not certain why today's distinctive male face and its proportions evolved.

"A shorter upper face does serve to exaggerate the size of other face features such as the flare of the cheeks and the size of the jaw, but this might not be why it developed," Weston told LiveScience. "Rather the shorter [and] broader the male face the more ‘masculine’ and the less ‘feminine'—based on biological face changes that take place during growth and development—the individual becomes," she said.

Also, this facial development was accompanied by a shrinking of guys' canine teeth, so men appeared less threatening to competitors, yet attractive to mates.

While the scientists who authored the current study examined skulls and did not specifically study how modern faces fit the findings, the Natural History Museum press officers applied Weston's findings to a "quick and dirty" survey of photos of celebrities.

They came up with a list of stars with masculine faces, listing them from most to least masculine according to facial dimensions: Will Smith, Peter Andre, Justin Timberlake, Thierry Henry, Brad Pitt, David Beckham, Johnny Depp and Kanye West.

[Silverback]

I have field tested this as an opener on 7 sets. I improvise so it changes everytime but goes something like this. "Hey guys, I read this article today and am not sure if I believe what it is saying and want to get your take on it. I have to get back to my friends...anyways it has to do with what types of guys you are attracted to. I can tell you what your dating habits are based on your attraction to these two types of guys. Are you into the Alpha male with dominant features like square jaws, muscles etc. or into the well dressed, softer featured Metrosexual?" Sometimes they say neither and I will say they have to answer one or the other or I can't determine their current love life (frame control). They will answer with something of either Alpha "according to the article you are seeking short term dating and hooking up" or they will answer Metrosexual and I reply "according to the article you are seeking more stability and a LTR." Then I throw a few facts in about the article and if they don't bite I say it is written by a bunch of Brits so it probably doesn't pertain to Americans. It is not the best, but won't get blown out. Plus if you are Alpha or more Metro, you get an idea on what type of dudes the chick is into and you will more than likely fit her dating style.

[Rhody]

I have field tested this as an opener on 7 sets. I improvise so it changes everytime but goes something like this. "Hey guys, I read this article today and am not sure if I believe what it is saying and want to get your take on it. I have to get back to my friends...anyways it has to do with what types of guys you are attracted to. I can tell you what your dating habits are based on your attraction to these two types of guys. Are you into the Alpha male with dominant features like square jaws, muscles etc. or into the well dressed, softer featured Metrosexual?" Sometimes they say neither and I will say they have to answer one or the other or I can't determine their current love life (frame control). They will answer with something of either Alpha "according to the article you are seeking short term dating and hooking up" or they will answer Metrosexual and I reply "according to the article you are seeking more stability and a LTR." Then I throw a few facts in about the article and if they don't bite I say it is written by a bunch of Brits so it probably doesn't pertain to Americans. It is not the best, but won't get blown out. Plus if you are Alpha or more Metro, you get an idea on what type of dudes the chick is into and you will more than likely fit her dating style.

Seems too involved to be an opener, but probably a solid routine once the set is open.

[TheRussian]

I agree, it is too long for an opener, but can be a great routine for comfort building.

Don't forget to read the 2nd article. It is better I think because it compares celebrities.

[Silverback]

True, I have gone away from this opener due to confusion and length but still throw it in. I will field test the second one with these hook phrases "Chick Magnets Today Look Like Cavemen " "mini mugs" "Guys with bulldog-like faces have been chick magnets throughout human evolutionary history" and of course "Homo erectus" It ties in with the other study and you can work a neg off of Alpha Male muscle head characteristics by playing off that they like "mini mugs" and "bulldog-like faces" Will test and let you know...