What is it about?

Masculine features – a strong jaw line and prominent brow – are generally thought to indicate that a man has a strong immune system. We tested this assumption in a group of Latvian men using a direct measure of immune response. The men's weight served as a better indicator of the relationship between immune response and attractiveness than masculinity did. It is therefore more likely that women use weight, rather than masculinity, in their subconscious judgements of a men's immunity.

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Why is it important?

The hypothesis that masculinity serves as the predominant cue to immunocompetence in human mate choice underpins a large literature on mate choice preferences. To our knowledge, this is the first study to test the role of masculinity as a cue to immunocompetence using a direct measure of immunity. We show that adiposity is a more important cue to immunocompetence in human mate choice compared to masculinity. The findings provide new insight into the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis.

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This page is a summary of: Adiposity, compared with masculinity, serves as a more valid cue to immunocompetence in human mate choice, Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences, November 2012, Royal Society Publishing,
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.2495.
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