WOMEN DO JUDGE MEN BY MUSCLES

PARIS - In a study published recently, scientists report that women living in countries with worse rates of disease and ill health are far likelier to plump for "masculine"-looking men than "feminine"-looking rivals.
Psychologists from Scotland's University of Aberdeen tested a theory that masculine traits in men are a sign of genetic health.

• If true, this should also have an effect on women, whose choice of a mate is influenced by the chances of their offspring's survival, according to the hypothesis.
• The team recruited more than 4,500 women in their early twenties in 30 countries via the internet. They asked the volunteers to decide which of two faces of the same man was more attractive. Twenty pairs of photos had features morphed to look either square-jawed and masculine, or slim-jawed and feminine.
• Preference for hunky types rose sharply as the country's "national health index" (NHI) fell, the investigators found. The NHI is a basket of eight World Health Organisation indices covering mortality rates, life expectancy and communicable diseases.
• "Our prediction was correct," lead researcher Lisa DeBruine told media. "Women from countries with poorer health did prefer masculine men more."
• The finding shows that mating choices may differ according to country and culture, but this is only because of variations in the local environment, said DeBruine.
• In previous research, DeBruine found that women who were more easily disgusted by cues of pathogens were also likelier to prefer masculine-type fellows.
• Butchness, though, is only part of a complex equation when it comes to mating. During the most fertile phase of her menstrual cycle, a woman is more likely to prefer masculine men. Social equality and control of resources can also shape perceptions about male attractiveness.

Source: AFP