Data_Sheet_3_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.

体质量指数（Body Mass Index, BMI）及其面部相关特征会影响一系列感知判断，包括男性气概与吸引力评价。BMI将体脂与肌肉质量混为一谈，而二者存在性二态性：男性通常肌肉量更高、体脂水平低于女性。因此本研究探讨了身体成分（体脂质量与肌肉质量）的面部相关特征对男性面孔男性气概感知的影响。已有研究表明，相较于长期伴侣关系，女性在考虑短期亲密关系时更偏爱具有更强男性气概外观的男性。据此我们开展了第二项研究，探讨异性恋女性在长期与短期亲密关系情境下对体脂与肌肉质量面部相关特征的偏好。我们通过数字化手段调整面孔形状，模拟体脂或肌肉质量升高与降低的效果，并在调整过程中控制二者、身高与年龄的干扰变量。在研究1中，参与者对经过形状调整的男性面孔的男性气概程度进行评分。肌肉质量的面部形状相关特征可显著提升男性气概感知，但体脂质量的面部形状相关特征仅会对体重过轻至偏低正常体重区间男性的男性气概感知产生影响。在研究2中，我们要求两组女性对男性面孔图像进行优化调整（通过调整体脂与肌肉的面部形状相关特征），使其最符合她们偏好的短期性伴侣或长期伴侣形象。两组参与者的研究结果均保持一致：相较于长期伴侣关系，女性在短期关系情境下更偏爱与更高肌肉质量相关的男性面孔外观。在两种亲密关系情境下，女性对体脂质量面部形状相关特征的偏好未表现出显著差异。上述研究结果表明，体脂与肌肉的面部相关特征对男性男性气概感知以及女性的伴侣偏好具有截然不同的影响。本研究结果同时提示，在涉及体重的心理学研究中，应当将身体成分纳入考量范畴。