Fertile Women Attracted to Men With 'Macho' Faces

Fertile Women Attracted to Men With 'Macho' Faces

By Catherine Donaldson-Evans Jan 11th 2011

Women whose significant others aren't "macho" tend to fantasize more about super masculine-looking men during their fertile phases than women who are paired with those types, a new study suggests.

Researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of New Mexico say their findings, published in Evolution and Human Behavior, also showed that those with macho romantic partners don't necessarily become more attracted to them over time.

"Basically, you want what you can't have," summed up University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist Dr. Christos Ballas in an interview with AOL Health. "The scientists would like it to make evolutionary sense that a woman would be sexually attracted to masculine men during her fertile phase regardless of who she's with. However, it could simply be a social phenomenon."

The authors also said that intelligence doesn't seem to factor in to fertile women's sexual fantasies.

The team identified a "masculine face" as one with a strong, defined jaw and chin, a pronounced brow and narrow eyes. Think George Clooney, advised study author Steven Gangestad of the University of New Mexico.

Wider eyes and a less defined jaw and face shape -- like Pee-Wee Herman, for example -- would be characteristic of a less-masculine face.

While women might find the macho-faced men more attractive when they're in a sexually charged state, they don't think they make the best life partners. If anything, they tend to gravitate more toward the softer type of man.
When they rate men's sexiness, in a sense, that's when (women) show the shift," Gangestad told LiveScience. "If they rate men's attractiveness as a long-term partner, then they don't show it."

Researchers interviewed 66 heterosexual couples, with the women ranging in age from 18 to 44 and the relationship lengths from a month to 20 years. Nine of the couples were married.

Prior research has found that "macho" males' sex appeal spikes when a woman is ovulating. This is the first to examine whether the phenomenon happens within actual romantic relationships.

Biologists who study evolution have put forth the "choosy females" theory -- women are more selective about mates when they're ovulating and are drawn to the one they think is the best, usually as determined by masculinity and physical appearance because those traits signal strength, ability to survive and good genes.

"The effects of facial masculinity and attractiveness fit in a larger picture that has emerged," another study author, Christine Garver-Apgar of the University of Colorado, said in a statement.

Past research has consistently led scientists to the same conclusion that a shift in sexual interest occurs during ovulation, she said.

"There's probably 30-plus papers documenting ovulatory cycle shifts and women's preferences," Garver-Apgar told AOL Health. "Those were predicted based on evolutionary theory."

Men who have "highly testosteronized features" -- the macho types -- may be signaling a more stable gene pool to women, she added.

"They are potentially displaying a surplus energy budget, because it means they had high levels of testosterone during critical development periods," she said.

But Ballas disputed the notion that attraction to a "hyper masculine" man -- or for men, a "hyper feminine" woman -- has anything to do with biology or evolution.

"If you're with someone but they're not the 'hyper masculine' or 'hyper feminine,' you fantasize about the hyper masculine or feminine," he said. "When you're already with that type, you don't need to fantasize about it. It doesn't have to be so crazy complicated. They want it to be that women biologically want a hyper male because he's a better mate."

He drew a comparison to men who are with brunettes fantasizing about blondes, and men who are with blondes fantasizing about brunettes.

"It's like the male 'I wish I had a blonde' thing," Ballas said. "Whatever you have, you fantasize about the other. It doesn't mean that blondes are better for mating."