scholarly journals Attractiveness and distinctiveness between speakers' voices in naturalistic speech and their faces are uncorrelated

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 201244
Author(s):  
Romi Zäske ◽  
Verena Gabriele Skuk ◽  
Stefan R. Schweinberger
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Honest Signal ◽  
Vocal Attractiveness

Facial attractiveness has been linked to the averageness (or typicality) of a face and, more tentatively, to a speaker's vocal attractiveness, via the ‘honest signal’ hypothesis, holding that attractiveness signals good genes. In four experiments, we assessed ratings for attractiveness and two common measures of distinctiveness (‘distinctiveness-in-the-crowd’, DITC and ‘deviation-based distinctiveness', DEV) for faces and voices (simple vowels, or more naturalistic sentences) from 64 young adult speakers (32 female). Consistent and substantial negative correlations between attractiveness and DEV generally supported the averageness account of attractiveness, for both voices and faces. By contrast, and indicating that both measures of distinctiveness reflect different constructs, correlations between attractiveness and DITC were numerically positive for faces (though small and non-significant), and significant for voices in sentence stimuli. Between faces and voices, distinctiveness ratings were uncorrelated. Remarkably, and at variance with the honest signal hypothesis, vocal and facial attractiveness were also uncorrelated in all analyses involving naturalistic, i.e. sentence-based, speech. This result pattern was confirmed using a new set of stimuli and raters (experiment 5). Overall, while our findings strongly support an averageness account of attractiveness for both domains, they provide no evidence for an honest signal account of facial and vocal attractiveness in complex naturalistic speech.

scholarly journals Attractiveness and distinctiveness in voices and faces of young adults

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romi Zäske ◽  
Stefan R. Schweinberger ◽  
Verena G. Skuk
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
Significant Negative Correlation ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Honest Signal ◽  
Vocal Attractiveness ◽  
Genetic Fitness ◽  
Rule Out

Facial attractiveness has been linked to the averageness (or typicality) of a face. More tentatively, it has also been linked to a speaker’s vocal attractiveness, via the “honest signal” hypothesis, holding that attractiveness signals good genes. In four experiments, we assessed ratings for attractiveness and two common measures of distinctiveness (“distinctiveness-in-thecrowd”- DITC and “deviation-based distinctiveness”-DEV) for faces and voices (vowels or sentences) from 64 young adult speakers (32 female). Consistent and strong negative correlations between attractiveness and DEV generally supported the averageness account of attractiveness for both voices and faces. By contrast, indicating that both measures of distinctiveness reflect different constructs, correlations between attractiveness and DITC were numerically positive for faces (though small and non-significant), and significant for voices in sentence stimuli. As the only exception, voice ratings based on vowels exhibited a moderate but significant negative correlation between attractiveness and DITC. Between faces and voices, distinctiveness ratings were uncorrelated. Remarkably, and at variance with the honest signal hypothesis, vocal and facial attractiveness were uncorrelated, with the exception of a moderatepositive correlation for vowels. Overall, while our findings strongly support an averageness account of attractiveness for both domains, they provide little evidence for an honest signal account of facial and vocal attractiveness in complex naturalistic speech. Although our findings for vowels do not rule out the tentative notion that more primitive vocalizations can provide relevant clues to genetic fitness, researchers should carefully consider the nature of voice samples, and the degree to which these are representative of human vocal communication.

scholarly journals Is vocal attractiveness a cue of young adult women’s susceptibility to infectious illnesses?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kieran J. O'Shea ◽  
Amanda Hahn ◽  
Rebecca J Lai ◽  
Iris Jasmin Holzleitner ◽  
Vanessa Fasolt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Immunoglobulin A ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Salivary Biomarker ◽  
Vocal Attractiveness

Although many researchers have assumed that vocal attractiveness functions as a health cue, direct tests of this assumption have been rare. Consequently, we will test possible correlations between women’s vocal attractiveness and susceptibility to infectious illnesses. We will test correlations between women’s vocal attractiveness and both a range of self-report measures of susceptibility to infectious illnesses and a commonly used salivary biomarker of immune response (secretary immunoglobulin A, measured from saliva).

A Higher-Than-Average Female Voice Can Cause Young Adult Female Listeners to Think About Aggression More

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 645-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinguang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Adult Female ◽  
Female Voice ◽  
Voice Pitch ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Selection Theory ◽  
Sexual Selection Theory ◽  
Vocal Attractiveness

Previous research found that speakers with more attractive voices receive more favorable evaluations (aka the vocal attractiveness stereotype). But sexual selection theory predicts that, to the extent that men perceive women with higher pitched voices as more attractive, women will be more hostile toward those women because they make more threatening mate rivals. Supporting this hypothesis, Study 1 ( N = 102) showed that female participants higher in trait dominance displayed heightened aggressive cognition after being primed with a romantic (but not a control) feeling and listening to a higher- but not lower-than-average female voice. Study 2 ( N = 111) showed that this heightened aggressive cognition was activated by a long-term but not a short-term mating motive. These findings supported sexual selection theory, challenged the vocal attractiveness stereotype, and suggested a mechanism that helps maintain the honesty of female voice pitch as a mate attraction signal.

scholarly journals Facial attractiveness: Variation, adaptiveness and consequences of facial preferences

2008 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Kościński
Keyword(s):  
Physiological State ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
Good Genes ◽  
Living Situation ◽  
Biological Quality ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
The Face ◽  
Facial Preferences ◽  
Many Sources

Facial attractiveness: Variation, adaptiveness and consequences of facial preferencesThis review embraces the following topics: intra- and inter-populational variation of facial preferences, relationship between facial attractiveness and mate value, biological and social effects of the perception of facial attractiveness, credibility of the adaptive perspective on facial preferences, and the phylogeny of facial attractiveness. Its main conclusions are as follows: (1) Many sources of inter-individual variation in assessments of facial attractiveness have been identified, e.g., the age, sex, biological quality, physiological state, personality, and living situation of the judge, as well as previously observed faces, physical similarity of the focal face to the judge's face, and acquaintance with and knowledge of the face owner. (2) Inter-populational consistency in perception of facial attractiveness is substantial and possesses both a biological and a cultural basis. (3) Facial attractiveness is a reliable cue to biological quality of the face owner, e.g., better parasite resistance, physical fitness, reproductive fitness, longevity, less mutational load, higher intelligence and better mental health. (4) Facially attractive people have more sexual partners, marry at a younger age, and remain single less frequently. Thereby, they have higher reproductive success than unattractive individuals. (5) As a whole, research supports the thesis that facial preferences are adaptive, that is, they evolved during the course of biological evolution because they assisted an individual in choosing a mate with good genes or a good personality.

scholarly journals Comparing theory-driven and data-driven attractiveness models using images of real women’s faces

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Jasmin Holzleitner ◽  
Anthony J Lee ◽  
Amanda Hahn ◽  
Michal Kandrik ◽  
Jeanne Bovet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Adult Female ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Neutral Model ◽  
Face Images

Facial attractiveness plays a critical role in social interaction, influencing many different social outcomes. However, the factors that influence facial attractiveness judgments remain relatively poorly understood. Here, we used a sample of 594 young adult female face images to compare the performance of existing theory-driven models of facial attractiveness and a data-driven (i.e., theory-neutral) model. Our data-driven model and a theory-driven model including various traits commonly studied in facial attractiveness research (asymmetry, averageness, sexual dimorphism, body mass index, and representational sparseness) performed similarly well. By contrast, univariate theory-driven models performed relatively poorly. These results (1) highlight the utility of data driven models of facial attractiveness and (2) suggest that theory-driven research on facial attractiveness would benefit from greater adoption of multivariate approaches, rather than the univariate approaches that they currently almost exclusively employ.

scholarly journals No evidence that facial attractiveness, femininity, averageness, or coloration are cues to susceptibility to infectious illnesses in a university sample of young adult women

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziyi Cai ◽  
Amanda Hahn ◽  
Weiqing Zhang ◽  
Iris Jasmin Holzleitner ◽  
Anthony J Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Saliva Sample ◽  
Immunoglobulin A ◽  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Adult Women ◽  
Face Shape ◽  
Study Population ◽  
Health Questionnaires

Previous reports that women with attractive faces are healthier have been widely cited as evidence that sexual selection has shaped human mate preferences. However, evidence for correlations between women’s physical health and facial attractiveness is equivocal. Moreover, positive results on this issue have generally come from studies of self-reported health in small samples. The current study took standardized face photographs of women who completed three different health questionnaires assessing susceptibility to infectious illnesses (N=590). Of these women, 221 also provided a saliva sample that was assayed for immunoglobulin A (a marker of immune function). Analyses showed no significant correlations between rated facial attractiveness and either scores on any of the health questionnaires or salivary immunoglobulin A. Furthermore there was no compelling evidence that objective measures of sexual dimorphism of face shape, averageness of face shape, or facial coloration were correlated with any of our health measures. While other measures of health may yet reveal robust associations with facial appearance, these null results do not support the prominent and influential assumption that women’s facial attractiveness is a cue of young adult women’s susceptibility to infectious illnesses, at least in our study population.

scholarly journals Breeding racehorses: what price good genes?

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alastair J Wilson ◽  
Andrew Rambaut
Keyword(s):  
Good Genes ◽  
Honest Signal ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
Prize Money ◽  
Genetic Quality ◽  
Quantitative Genetic ◽  
Thoroughbred Racehorses ◽  
Breeding Programmes ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Lifetime Earnings

Horse racing is a multi-million pound industry, in which genetic information is increasingly used to optimize breeding programmes. To maximize the probability of producing a successful offspring, the owner of a mare should mate her with a high-quality stallion. However, stallions with big reputations command higher stud fees and paying these is only a sensible strategy if, (i) there is a genetic variation for success on the racecourse and (ii) stud fees are an honest signal of a stallion's genetic quality. Using data on thoroughbred racehorses, and lifetime earnings from prize money (LE) as a measure of success, we performed quantitative genetic analyses within an animal model framework to test these two conditions. Although LE is heritable ( V A =0.299±0.108, Pr=0.002), there is no genetic variance for stud fee and the genetic correlation between traits is therefore zero. This result is supported by an absence of any relationship between stud fees for currently active stallions and the predicted LE for their (hypothetical) offspring. Thus, while there are good genes to be bought, a stallion's fees are not an honest signal of his genetic quality and are a poor predictor of a foal's prize winning potential.

scholarly journals Facial attractiveness, symmetry and cues of good genes

1999 ◽  
Vol 266 (1431) ◽  
pp. 1913-1917 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna E. Scheib ◽  
Steven W. Gangestad ◽  
Randy Thornhill
Keyword(s):  
Facial Attractiveness ◽  
Good Genes

Fine Structure of Interdental Cells in the Mouse Cochlea

1970 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 140-141
Author(s):  
Roberta M. Bruck
Keyword(s):  
Fine Structure ◽  
Electron Microscope ◽  
Young Adult ◽  
Uranyl Acetate ◽  
Ground Substance ◽  
Tectorial Membrane ◽  
Lead Citrate ◽  
Unusual Structure ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Collagenous Fibers

An unusual structure in the cochlea is the spiral limbus; this periosteal tissue consists of stellate fibroblasts and collagenous fibers embedded in a translucent ground substance. The collagenous fibers are arranged in vertical columns (the auditory teeth of Haschke). Between the auditory teeth are interdental furrows in which the interdental cells are situated. These epithelial cells supposedly secrete the tectorial membrane.The fine structure of interdental cells in the rat was reported by Iurato (1962). Since the mouse appears to be different, a description of the fine structure of mouse interdental cells' is presented. Young adult C57BL/6J mice were perfused intervascularly with 1% paraformaldehyde/ 1.25% glutaraldehyde in .1M phosphate buffer (pH7.2-7.4). Intact cochlea were decalcified in .1M EDTA by the method of Baird (1967), postosmicated, dehydrated, and embedded in Araldite. Thin sections stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate were examined in a Phillips EM-200 electron microscope.

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