One of the more intriguing findings in the field of evolutionary psychology over the past two decades has been that ovulating women are more strongly attracted to men with faces that have pronounced masculine characteristics, such as wide jaws and heavy brows, than to men who do not have such traits. Other research suggests men with highly masculinised faces have strong immune systems, a desirable trait in children, but also tend to form weaker long-term bonds with romantic partners, and are thus more likely to desert and leave the mother, both literally and metaphorically, holding the baby. Logic therefore suggests that a woman’s ideal evolutionary strategy is to mate with such men in secrecy, while duping less masculine (but better bonded) males into believing that the resultant offspring are their own—thus garnering reliable help in raising them.
Nearly a dozen experiments have yielded results which seem to confirm this theory, yet sceptics have criticised many of these studies as flawed. Some had small sample sizes (many with fewer than 40 participants), so their results are statistically dicey. Some determined ovulation dates by asking women to report when they last menstruated. These are problematic both because cycle lengths vary and because women are often unsure about when their last cycle concluded. Some measured women’s hormone levels only once, rather than several times, and then compared how different women at different stages of their cycles responded to faces, rather than comparing how the same women at different stages of their cycles responded.
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