A MAN’S hormones might make him look dominant and masculine but they will not make him more attractive to women, British scientists have discovered.
Men whose faces are heavily sculpted by testosterone, with the square jaw and thick brow of a Russell Crowe, are widely seen as virile and assertive. However, their rugged masculine features are no guarantee of success with women, who are just as likely to prefer the softer, feminine look of Leonardo di Caprio or Gareth Gates, according to a study at Northumbria University.
The shape of the male face is heavily influenced by exposure to hormones, as features such as the brow ridge, the jaw, the chin, the nose and the cheekbones have receptors for testosterone. When levels of the hormone are high, particularly in the womb, these parts of the face will develop more fully. The result is the angular, craggy, ultra-masculine look of a Hollywood action star, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone. Lower levels of testosterone produce a more balanced male face, such as that of Brad Pitt or Hugh Grant, or the more feminine features of di Caprio or Gates.
A team led by Nick Neave sought to establish whether different prenatal testosterone levels, and the different faces they mould, had any effect on perceptions of a man’s personality or physical attractiveness.
They took pictures of 48 male undergraduates, all of whom were heterosexual and aged between 18 and 33.
A group of 36 female volunteers were asked to rate each face for dominance, masculinity and sexual attractiveness. To ensure that none of the “raters” knew the male subjects, they were from a different university.
To establish the men’s hormonal exposure in the womb, the researchers measured their index and ring fingers. The ring finger has more testosterone receptors than the others, while the index finger is very sensitive to the female hormone oestrogen, making the ratio a good guide. The longer the ring finger, the higher the testosterone exposure.
The results, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society, show a strong correlation between testosterone and perceptions of personality. Men with longer ring fingers were almost universally judged to look dominant and masculine. However, there was no link between testosterone and physical attractiveness, with women just as likely to prefer faces with a low hormonal influence.
Dr Neave said: “The more testosterone to which men were exposed before birth, the more dominant and masculine women thought their faces were. But the women did not find them more attractive. There was no relationship.”
The findings fit with previous research indicating that women are generally more attracted by symmetrical faces with a balance between male and female features — which are linked to lower prenatal testosterone levels.
“A male face with some attributes of both masculinity and femininity is attractive,” Dr Neave said. “Women kind of like your macho-but-sensitive type. Brad Pitt is a good example, or Hugh Grant, or David Coulthard — he has a huge male chin but other features of his face are more feminine.
“There is also some evidence that it depends on the menstrual cycle, with a preference for more masculine faces around ovulation, and more feminine faces at other times.”
Rugged, ultra-masculine looks are created in the womb but probably serve to advertise traits such as dominance, assertiveness and aggression that come into play only with the later effects of testosterone at puberty, Dr Neave said. “People think that male faces change dramatically at puberty but actually they don’t. If you have a feminine face at four, you will still have feminine features at 24. Your face seems to be carved in stone before you are born.” While such a face suggests dominance and status, traits linked to sexual attractiveness, women may be ambivalent because it can also signal a negative side to a man’s personality.
“Pronounced facial markers may also be associated with negative traits such as aggression,” Dr Neave said. “But it is difficult to know exactly what is going on because it is so hard to pin down why a face is attractive. What is certain is that what happens to you before birth governs what happens to your face.”
Current levels of testosterone have little to do with perceptions of attractiveness or personality: the scientists measured levels in the men’s saliva but found no link to any of the three variables.
Fingers of fate point to biological make-up
The ratio between the length of the ring and index fingers is one of the most fascinating biological markers, offering clues to phenomena as diverse as sexual orientation, heart disease and footballing prowess (Mark Henderson writes).
While ring finger growth is stimulated by testosterone, the index finger responds to the presence of the female hormone oestrogen.
In women, the two digits are generally the same size. In men, the ring finger is generally the longer of the two. Gay men and lesbians, however, are likely to have a ring finger that is significantly longer than the index, suggesting that high exposure to testosterone in the womb may play a major role in determining sexual orientation. Men with very long ring fingers tend to produce more sperm and more active sperm than normal. Shorter ring fingers are linked to improved fertility in women, but may also mean an increased risk of breast cancer. Men whose index fingers are the same length or shorter than their ring fingers may be more likely to have a heart attack in their thirties or forties.
Those with a longer ring finger, however, are at greater risk of heart disease in middle and old age. A longer ring finger is also linked to autism, dyslexia and left-handedness.
Perhaps the most intriguing link, however, is between a very long ring finger and sporting ability. A study of professional footballers, including Alan Shearer and Paul Gascoigne, found not only that they had longer ring fingers, on average, than non-footballers, but also that the digit appeared to grow with a player’s ability.
International footballers had longer ring fingers than non-internationals, and Premiership stars had longer ring fingers than players in the lower leagues.
