Illness in childhood predicts face preferences in adulthood

Micheal De Barra; Lisa M. DeBruine; Benedict C. Jones; Zahid  Hayat Mahmud; Valerie A. Curtis

doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.07.001

Illness in childhood predicts face preferences in adulthood

Micheal De Barra, Lisa M. DeBruine, Benedict C. Jones, Zahid Hayat Mahmud, Valerie A. Curtis

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29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The value of different mate choices may depend on the local pathogen ecology and on personal infection susceptibility: when there is a high risk of infection, choosing a healthy or immunocompetent mate may be particularly important. Frequency of childhood illness may act as a cue of the ecological and immunological factors relevant to mate preferences. Consistent with this proposal, we found that childhood illness – and frequency of diarrhea in particular – was positively correlated with preferences for exaggerated sex-typical characteristics in opposite-sex, but not same-sex, faces. Moreover, this relationship was stronger among individuals with poorer current health. These data suggest that childhood illness may play a role in calibrating adult mate preferences and have implications for theories of disease-avoidance psychology, life-history strategy and cross-cultural differences in mate preferences.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	384-389
Number of pages	6
Journal	Evolution and Human Behavior
Volume	34
Issue number	6
Early online date	28 Aug 2013
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.07.001
Publication status	Published - Nov 2013

Keywords

Facial attractiveness
Infectious disease
Sexual dimorphism
Predictive adaptive response
Behavioral immune system

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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title = "Illness in childhood predicts face preferences in adulthood",

abstract = "The value of different mate choices may depend on the local pathogen ecology and on personal infection susceptibility: when there is a high risk of infection, choosing a healthy or immunocompetent mate may be particularly important. Frequency of childhood illness may act as a cue of the ecological and immunological factors relevant to mate preferences. Consistent with this proposal, we found that childhood illness – and frequency of diarrhea in particular – was positively correlated with preferences for exaggerated sex-typical characteristics in opposite-sex, but not same-sex, faces. Moreover, this relationship was stronger among individuals with poorer current health. These data suggest that childhood illness may play a role in calibrating adult mate preferences and have implications for theories of disease-avoidance psychology, life-history strategy and cross-cultural differences in mate preferences.",

keywords = "Facial attractiveness, Infectious disease, Sexual dimorphism, Predictive adaptive response, Behavioral immune system",

author = "{De Barra}, Micheal and DeBruine, {Lisa M.} and Jones, {Benedict C.} and {Hayat Mahmud}, Zahid and Curtis, {Valerie A.}",

note = "Acknowledgments We thank Rashed Zaman, Zakir Hossain, and M. Sirajul Islam for their support during data collection.",

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doi = "10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.07.001",

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pages = "384--389",

journal = "Evolution and Human Behavior",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Illness in childhood predicts face preferences in adulthood

AU - De Barra, Micheal

AU - DeBruine, Lisa M.

AU - Jones, Benedict C.

AU - Hayat Mahmud, Zahid

AU - Curtis, Valerie A.

N1 - Acknowledgments We thank Rashed Zaman, Zakir Hossain, and M. Sirajul Islam for their support during data collection.

PY - 2013/11

Y1 - 2013/11

N2 - The value of different mate choices may depend on the local pathogen ecology and on personal infection susceptibility: when there is a high risk of infection, choosing a healthy or immunocompetent mate may be particularly important. Frequency of childhood illness may act as a cue of the ecological and immunological factors relevant to mate preferences. Consistent with this proposal, we found that childhood illness – and frequency of diarrhea in particular – was positively correlated with preferences for exaggerated sex-typical characteristics in opposite-sex, but not same-sex, faces. Moreover, this relationship was stronger among individuals with poorer current health. These data suggest that childhood illness may play a role in calibrating adult mate preferences and have implications for theories of disease-avoidance psychology, life-history strategy and cross-cultural differences in mate preferences.

AB - The value of different mate choices may depend on the local pathogen ecology and on personal infection susceptibility: when there is a high risk of infection, choosing a healthy or immunocompetent mate may be particularly important. Frequency of childhood illness may act as a cue of the ecological and immunological factors relevant to mate preferences. Consistent with this proposal, we found that childhood illness – and frequency of diarrhea in particular – was positively correlated with preferences for exaggerated sex-typical characteristics in opposite-sex, but not same-sex, faces. Moreover, this relationship was stronger among individuals with poorer current health. These data suggest that childhood illness may play a role in calibrating adult mate preferences and have implications for theories of disease-avoidance psychology, life-history strategy and cross-cultural differences in mate preferences.

KW - Facial attractiveness

KW - Infectious disease

KW - Sexual dimorphism

KW - Predictive adaptive response

KW - Behavioral immune system

U2 - 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.07.001

DO - 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.07.001

M3 - Article

VL - 34

SP - 384

EP - 389

JO - Evolution and Human Behavior

JF - Evolution and Human Behavior

SN - 1090-5138

IS - 6

ER -

Illness in childhood predicts face preferences in adulthood

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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