Data from: Facial attractiveness is related to women’s cortisol and body fat, but not with immune responsiveness

Recent studies suggest that facial attractiveness indicates immune responsiveness in men and that this relationship is moderated by stress hormones which interact with testosterone levels. However, studies testing whether facial attractiveness in women signals their immune responsiveness are lacking. Here, we photographed young Latvian women, vaccinated them against hepatitis B and measured the amount of specific antibodies produced, cortisol levels and percentage body fat. Latvian men rated the attractiveness of the women's faces. Interestingly, in women, immune responsiveness (amount of antibodies produced) did not predict facial attractiveness. Instead, plasma cortisol level was negatively associated with attractiveness, indicating that stressed women look less attractive. Fat percentage was curvilinearly associated with facial attractiveness, indicating that being too thin or too fat reduces attractiveness. Our study suggests that in contrast to men, facial attractiveness in women does not indicate immune responsiveness against hepatitis B, but is associated with two other aspects of long-term health and fertility: circulating levels of the stress hormone cortisol and percentage body fat.近期研究表明，男性的面部吸引力可反映其免疫应答能力，且这一关联受与睾酮水平相互作用的应激激素调控。然而，目前尚无针对女性面部吸引力是否能反映其免疫应答能力的相关研究。本研究对拉脱维亚年轻女性进行了肖像拍摄，为其接种乙型肝炎疫苗，并检测了受试者产生的特异性抗体量、皮质醇水平以及体脂百分比。随后由拉脱维亚男性对这些女性的面部吸引力进行评分。值得注意的是，在女性群体中，免疫应答能力（即特异性抗体产生量）并不能预测面部吸引力。相反，血浆皮质醇水平与面部吸引力呈负相关，提示处于应激状态的女性面容吸引力更低。体脂百分比与面部吸引力呈曲线相关，表明过瘦或过胖均会降低面部吸引力。本研究表明，与男性不同，女性的面部吸引力并不能反映其针对乙型肝炎的免疫应答能力，而是与长期健康与生育能力的另外两项指标相关：循环应激激素皮质醇水平以及体脂百分比。