Data_Sheet_2_The Influence of Body Composition Effects on Male Facial Masculinity and Attractiveness.CSV

Body mass index (BMI) and its facial correlates influence a range of perceptions including masculinity and attractiveness. BMI conflates body fat and muscle which are sexually dimorphic because men typically have more muscle but less fat than women. We therefore investigated the influence of facial correlates of body composition (fat mass and muscle mass) on the perception of masculinity in male faces. Women have been found to prefer more masculine looking men when considering short-term relationships compared with long-term relationships. We therefore conducted a second study of heterosexual women’s preferences for facial correlates of fat and muscle mass under long and short relationship contexts. We digitally transformed face shape simulating the effects of raised and lowered levels of body fat or muscle, controlling for each other, height and age. In Study 1, participants rated masculinity of shape-transformed male faces. The face shape correlates of muscle mass profoundly enhanced perceived masculinity but the face shape correlates of fat mass only affected the perception of masculinity in underweight to low normal weight men. In Study 2, we asked two groups of women to optimize male face images (by adjusting the shape correlates of fat and muscle) to most resemble someone they would prefer, either for a short-term sexual relationship or for a long-term relationship. The results were consistent across the two participant groups: women preferred the appearance of male faces associated with a higher muscle mass for short-term compared with long-term relationships. No difference was found in women’s preference for the face shape correlates of fat mass between the two relationship contexts. These findings suggest that the facial correlates of body fat and muscle have distinct impacts on the perception of male masculinity and on women’s preferences. The findings indicate that body composition needs to be taken into consideration in psychological studies involving body weight.

身体质量指数（BMI）及其面部相关特征（facial correlates）会影响一系列认知判断，包括对男子气概与吸引力的感知。BMI同时涵盖体脂与肌肉量，二者均具有性别二态性（sexually dimorphic）——男性通常较女性拥有更多肌肉但体脂水平更低。因此，本研究探讨了身体组成（体脂量与肌肉量）的面部相关特征对男性面孔男子气概感知的影响。已有研究表明，相较于长期恋爱关系，女性在考虑短期亲密性关系时更偏爱外貌更具男子气概的男性。据此，我们开展了第二项研究，探究异性恋女性在长期与短期恋爱关系情境下，对面部体脂与肌肉量相关特征的偏好。我们通过数字化形变技术调整面孔形状，模拟体脂或肌肉量升降带来的外观变化，并在调整过程中控制体脂与肌肉量、身高及年龄的干扰。在研究1中，参与者对经过形状形变的男性面孔的男子气概程度进行评分。结果显示，与肌肉量相关的面孔形状特征显著提升了被感知到的男子气概，而与体脂量相关的面孔形状特征仅对体重偏轻至正常偏低体重男性的男子气概感知产生影响。在研究2中，我们邀请两组女性参与者优化男性面孔图像（通过调整面部体脂与肌肉量相关特征），使其最接近她们偏好的、可作为短期性伴侣或长期伴侣的对象。两组参与者的结果保持一致：相较于长期恋爱关系，女性在短期性关系情境下更偏爱与更高肌肉量相关的男性面孔外观。而在两种恋爱关系情境下，女性对面部体脂量相关特征的偏好未表现出显著差异。上述研究结果表明，体脂与肌肉量的面部相关特征对男性男子气概的感知以及女性的择偶偏好具有截然不同的影响。本研究结果提示，在涉及体重的心理学研究中，需将身体组成纳入考量范畴。