Jealousy may be an adaptive response to perceived pair-bond threats, though not all potential competitors will elicit equivalent jealous responses (Buss, Shackelford, Choe, Buunk, & Dijkstra, 2000). Individuals possessing traits indicating relatively high mate value may be perceived as greater threats to relationships than those without such traits (Dijkstra and Buunk, 1998 and Dijkstra and Buunk, 2001).
Female characteristics such as a higher-pitched voice, feminine facial structure, and a feminine waist-to-hip ratio are traits preferred by men (for review see Feinberg, 2008 and Little et al., 2011). Women also report more intense jealousy when rating attractive female faces (Massar & Buunk, 2010) and bodies (Dijkstra and Buunk, 2001 and Massar and Buunk, 2009). Vocal (Abitbol, Abitbol, & Abitbol, 1999), facial (Law Smith et al., 2006), and body (Jasienska, Ziomkiewicz, Ellison, Lipson, & Thune, 2004) femininity communicate relatively higher estrogen levels, which are positively related to reproductive potential (Venners et al., 2006). Therefore, estrogen-dependent traits may cue underlying mate quality (for review see Feinberg, 2008 and Little et al., 2011), and may elicit jealousy among other women.
Among men, lower-pitched, masculine voices (Dabbs and Mallinger, 1999 and Hollien, 1960), masculine facial structure (Verdonck, Gaethofs, Carels, & De Zegher, 1999) and body configuration are testosterone-dependent traits (Kasperk et al., 1997). Testosterone levels are positively associated with indices of health (Feely, Saad, Guay, & Traish, 2009), dominant behavior, and social status (Mazur & Booth, 1998). Also, facial masculinity is positively correlated with measures of perceived and actual health (Rhodes et al., 2003 and Thornhill and Gangestad, 2006). Furthermore, masculine men’s faces and voices are perceived as relatively more dominant (Feinberg et al., 2006, Jones, Feinberg, et al., 2010 and Perrett et al., 1998). Indeed, men and women are more likely to follow the gaze of masculine faces, demonstrating that images of faces can influence dominance-related behaviors (Jones et al., 2010). Therefore, testosterone-dependent traits may communicate health and/or dominance.
Women generally prefer relatively masculine men’s voices and bodies (Collins, 2000, Feinberg et al., 2005, Hodges-Simeon et al., 2010 and Jones, Feinberg, et al., 2010). Both vocal and facial masculinity preferences increase with conception risk (Feinberg et al., 2006, Penton-Voak et al., 1999 and Puts, 2005) and for short-term relationships (Little et al., 2002 and Puts, 2005). Women who are open to casual sex, as indicated by the sociosexual orientation inventory (Simpson & Gangestad, 1991), prefer relatively masculine men’s faces (Waynforth, Delwadia, & Camm, 2005) and bodies (Provost, Kormos, Kosakoski, & Quinsey, 2006). As masculinity preferences are greater among women in seek of short-term and potentially extra-pair relationships, men possessing relatively more masculine traits may be perceived by other men as particularly threatening to pair-bond fidelity (Dijkstra and Buunk, 2001, Kruger, 2006 and Massar and Buunk, 2009).
Men’s jealous responses to imagined scenarios are elicited by traits such as body masculinity (Dijkstra and Buunk, 2001 and Massar and Buunk, 2009). Similarly, Kruger (2006) found that men chose feminized male faces more often than masculinized men’s faces when asked to choose the man they would prefer accompany their girlfriend on a short trip to another city, suggesting that men perceive males with masculine faces as a greater threat to pair-bond fidelity than males with feminine faces. It is unknown if these perceptions of potential rivalry are tied to attractiveness, or alternatively, some knowledge of underlying mating strategies. Furthermore, it is unknown whether these attributions generalize to other testosterone-dependent traits, and whether prior findings extend to women’s perceptions.
Here, we tested the influence of vocal and facial masculinity on perceptions of how jealous people would be if the person were flirting with their partner, or who they would prefer accompany their partner on a weekend trip, as well as the degree to which these perceptions are related to perceptions of attractiveness. If jealousy responses and/or preferences for partner accompaniment are influenced by cues to underlying mate quality, then jealousy responses and preferences for partner accompaniment may correlate with the degree to which they find masculinity/femininity attractive.
