4/6/18

1

� Men tend to prefer women with longer hair

¡ Preference found across culture and history

� Long hair is a record of continued good health

¡ Growing shoulder-length hair takes at least 4 years of…

¢ Good health and diet ¢ No parasites or pathogens

¢ No serious diseases

¡ A healthy past predicts a healthy future

¢ Good health is necessary in order for women to conceive, carry, and care for children

� Humans are among the very few species with hair

¡ Most animals have fur

¢ Grows to certain length and then falls out

¡ Hair grows perpetually, unless cut or lost due to poor health

¢ Likely evolved as a way to show off health history

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2

�Why isn’t long hair sexy on men?

¡ Because their health history doesn’t matter

¡ Men produce viable sperm within 10 days of good health

¡ Men’s genes are more important than their health history

� What kind of voice is most attractive for men?

¡ Lower pitched, steady voice

¡ Signifier of high testosterone

¢ Deep voiced men tend to…

� Have more sex

� Have more sexual partners

� Produce more offspring

� Even after controlling for physical attractiveness

� What kind of voice is most attractive for women?

¡ Higher pitched voice

¡ Frequently travels up and down in pitch

¢ I.e., sing-song quality

¡ Signifiers of…

¢ High estrogen levels

¢ Good health

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3

� For women, higher pitch means higher fertility

¡ Correlated with having more and healthier offspring

� Many cultures include singing as part of courtship

¡ Perhaps a way to assess vocal qualities, and thus mating potential

You sound so fertile, even in that girdle

�What are optimal (i.e., sexy) pitches?

¡ Male voices range from 90 – 160 Hz

¢ Most attractive voices at 90 – 110 Hz

¢ Lower 30% of vocal range

¡ Female voices range from 180 – 250 Hz

¢ Most attractive voices at 230 – 250 Hz

¢ Upper 30% of vocal range

� What’s the difference?

A B C

Tilted Upward

Tilted Downward

NotTilted

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4

� Women and men look more or less attractive depending on how they tilt their head

¡ Researchers took pictures and made computer models of neutral faces, with heads tilted at different angles

� Women rated most attractive with chin tilted down¡ Makes women appear appear more child-like,

wide-eyed and submissive

¡ Emphasizes skinnier face and pointier chin

� Men rated most attractive with chin tilted up¡ Makes men appear more dominant and confident

¡ Emphasizes square jawline

4/6/18

5

� Seen frequently in film/animation

� Seen in virtually every Disney movie

� How do men move to appear most attractive?¡ Men tend to accentuate upper body (shoulder)

4/6/18

6

� How do women move to appear most attractive?¡ Women tend to accentuate lower body (hips)