Facial attractiveness is related to women’s cortisol and body fat, but not with immune responsiveness

dc.contributor.authorRantala, Markus J.
dc.contributor.authorCoetzee, Vinet
dc.contributor.authorMoore, Fhionna R.
dc.contributor.authorSkrinda, Ilona
dc.contributor.authorKecko, Sanita
dc.contributor.authorKrama, Tatjana
dc.contributor.authorKivleniece, Inese
dc.contributor.authorKrams, Indrikis
dc.date.accessioned2014-12-03T11:40:59Z
dc.date.available2014-12-03T11:40:59Z
dc.date.issued2013-08
dc.description.abstractRecent studies suggest that facial attractiveness indicates immune responsiveness in men and that this relationship is moderated by stress hormones which interact with testosterone levels. However, studies testing whether facial attractiveness in women signals their immune responsiveness are lacking. Here, we photographed young Latvian women, vaccinated them against hepatitis B and measured the amount of specific antibodies produced, cortisol levels and percentage body fat. Latvian men rated the attractiveness of the women's faces. Interestingly, in women, immune responsiveness (amount of antibodies produced) did not predict facial attractiveness. Instead, plasma cortisol level was negatively associated with attractiveness, indicating that stressed women look less attractive. Fat percentage was curvilinearly associated with facial attractiveness, indicating that being too thin or too fat reduces attractiveness. Our study suggests that in contrast to men, facial attractiveness in women does not indicate immune responsiveness against hepatitis B, but is associated with two other aspects of long-term health and fertility: circulating levels of the stress hormone cortisol and percentage body fat.en_US
dc.description.librarianhj2014en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThe study was supported by Academy of Finland to M.J.R. F.R.M. was supported by a travel grant of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland. V.C. was supported by a scarce skills postdoctoral fellowship from the South African National Research Foundation.en_US
dc.description.urihttp://publishing.royalsociety.org/index.cfm?page=1566en_US
dc.identifier.citationRantala, MJ, Coetzee, V, Moore, FR, Skrinda, I, Kecko, S, Krama, T, Kivleniece, I & Krams, I 2013, 'Facial attractiveness is related to women's cortisol and body fat, but not with immune responsiveness', Biology Letters, vol. 9, no. 4, art. 20130255, pp. 1-4.en_US
dc.identifier.issn1744-9561 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1744-957X (online)
dc.identifier.issn10.1098/rsbl.2013.0255
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/42788
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherThe Royal Societyen_US
dc.rights© 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.en_US
dc.subjectBeautyen_US
dc.subjectCortisolen_US
dc.subjectHumansen_US
dc.subjectImmuneen_US
dc.subjectMate choiceen_US
dc.subjectSexual selectionen_US
dc.titleFacial attractiveness is related to women’s cortisol and body fat, but not with immune responsivenessen_US
dc.typePostprint Articleen_US

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