Publications
Every now and again, one of my articles is accepted for publication in a journal made of real paper. Bam!
Download single copies for personal use. Papers I've co-authored can usually be found on my collaborators' sites (see here for links).
in press
Welling, L. L. M., Puts, D. A., Roberts, S. C., Little, A. C., & Burriss, R. P. (in press). Hormonal contraceptive use and mate retention behavior in women and their male partners. Hormones and Behavior.
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Female hormonal contraceptive use has been associated with a variety of physical and psychological side effects. Women who use hormonal contraceptives report more intense affective responses to partner infidelity and greater overall sexual jealousy than women not using hormonal contraceptives, indicating a hormonal correlate. Recently, researchers have found that using hormonal contraceptives with higher levels of synthetic estradiol, and not progestin, is associated with significantly higher levels of self-reported jealousy in women. Here, we extend these findings by examining the relationship between mate retention behavior in heterosexual women and their male partners and women’s use of hormonal contraceptives. We find that women using hormonal contraceptives report more frequent use of mate retention tactics, specifically behaviors directed toward their partners (i.e., intersexual manipulations). Men partnered with women using hormonal contraceptives also report more frequent mate retention behavior, and this generalizes to both acts directed toward their partner and acts directed toward rivals (i.e., intrasexual manipulations). Additionally, among women using hormonal contraceptives, the dose of synthetic estradiol, but not of synthetic progesterone, positively predicts mate retention behavior frequency. These findings demonstrate how hormonal contraceptive use may influence behavior that directly affects the quality of romantic relationships as perceived by both female and male partners.
Roberts, S. C., Klapilová, K., Little, A. C., Burriss, R. P., Jones, B. C., DeBruine, L. M., Petrie, M., Havlíček, J. (in press). Relationship satisfaction and outcome in women who meet their partner while using oral contraception. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London - B. » DOI
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Hormonal variation over the menstrual cycle alters women's preferences for phenotypic indicators of men's genetic or parental quality. Hormonal contraceptives suppress these shifts, inducing different mate preference patterns among users and non-users. This raises the possibility that women using oral contraception (OC) choose different partners than they would do otherwise but, to date, we know neither whether these laboratory-measured effects are sufficient to exert real-world consequences, nor what these consequences would be. Here, we test for differences in relationship quality and survival between women who were using or not using OC when they chose the partner who fathered their first child. Women who used OC scored lower on measures of sexual satisfaction and partner attraction, experienced increasing sexual dissatisfaction during the relationship, and were more likely to be the one to initiate an eventual separation if it occurred. However, the same women were more satisfied with their partner's paternal provision, and thus had longer relationships and were less likely to separate. These effects are congruent with evolutionary predictions based on cyclical preference shifts. Our results demonstrate that widespread use of hormonal contraception may contribute to relationship outcome, with implications for human reproductive behaviour, family cohesion and quality of life.
2012
Puts, D. A., Welling, L. L. M., Burriss, R. P., & Dawood, K. (in press). Men's masculinity and attractiveness predict their female partners' reported orgasm frequency and timing. Evolution and Human Behavior, 33(1), 1-9. » DOI
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It has been hypothesized that female orgasm evolved to facilitate recruitment of high-quality
genes for offspring. Supporting evidence indicates that female orgasm promotes conception, although
this may be mediated by the timing of female orgasm in relation to male ejaculation. This hypothesis
also predicts that women will achieve orgasm more frequently when copulating with high-quality
males, but limited data exist to support this prediction. We therefore explored relationships between
the timing and frequency of women's orgasms and putative markers of the genetic quality of their
mates, including measures of attractiveness, facial symmetry, dominance and masculinity. We found
that women reported more frequent and earlier-timed orgasms when mated to masculine and
dominant men—those with high scores on a principle component characterized by high objectively measured
facial masculinity, observer-rated facial masculinity, partner-rated masculinity, and partner rated
dominance. Women reported more frequent orgasm during or after male ejaculation when
mated to attractive men—those with high scores on a principle component characterized by high
observer-rated and self-rated attractiveness. Putative measures of men's genetic quality did not
predict their mates' orgasms from self-masturbation or from non-coital partnered sexual behavior.
Overall, these results appear to support a role for female orgasm in sire choice.
2011
Burriss, R. P., Welling, L. L. M., & Puts, D. A. (2011). Mate-preference drives mate-choice: Men's self-rated masculinity predicts their female partner's preference for masculinity. Personality and Individual Differences, 51(8), 1023-1027. » DOI PDF
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Women who rate their male partner as more masculine tend to prefer more masculine faces. However, it is unclear whether a preference for masculinity causes women to select masculine partners, or merely to perceive their current partner as more masculine. By incorporating multiple measures of male masculinity, we establish that women’s preference for facial masculinity in short-term partners is correlated with their rating of their partner’s masculinity and with their partner’s self-rated masculinity, but with neither independent-ratings of men’s facial masculinity nor a facialmetric masculinity index. Facial masculinity preference in long-term partners is correlated with women’s rating of partner masculinity, with a similar trend for men’s self-rating. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that these relationships were independent of age, although only for short-term preference. We conclude that women who prefer masculine men tend to have more masculine partners, and therefore that mate-preferences do drive mate-choice.
Burriss, R. P., Roberts, S. C., Welling, L. L. M., Puts, D. A., & Little, A. C. (2011). Heterosexual romantic couples mate assortatively for facial symmetry, but not masculinity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(5), 601-613. » DOI PDF
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Preferences for partners with symmetric and sex-typical faces are well documented and considered evidence for the good-genes theory of mate-choice. However, it is unclear whether preferences for these traits drive the real-world selection of mates. In two samples of young heterosexual couples from the UK (Study 1) and the USA (Study 2), we found assortment for facial symmetry but not for sex-typicality or independently-rated attractiveness. Within-couple similarity in these traits did not predict relationship duration or quality, although female attractiveness and relationship duration were negatively correlated among couples in which the woman was the more attractive partner. We conclude that humans may mate assortatively on facial symmetry, but this remains just one of the many physical and non-physical traits to which people likely attend when forming romantic partnerships. This is also the first evidence that preferences for symmetry transfer from the laboratory to a real-world setting.
Welling, L. L. M., Burriss, R. P., & Puts, D. A. (2011). Mate retention behavior modulates men’s preferences for self-resemblance in infant faces. Evolution and Human Behavior, 32(2), 118-126. » DOI
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Visual assessments of relatedness may affect paternal investment decisions and altruistic
behaviors. Work examining preferences for cues to self-resemblance in child faces has been equivocal,
with findings showing that men have a higher preference than women, that preference for self-resemblance
was statistically significant in women but not men, and that both men and women have a
significant preference for self-resemblance when making parental investment decisions. Using data
from 67 heterosexual romantic couples, we present evidence that both men and women prefer self-resembling
infants, but show no significant preference for partner-resembling infants. Moreover,
men's intersexual negative inducement tactics were correlated with, and significantly predicted, their
preferences for self-resembling infants. These findings provide evidence that, although both men and
women show a general preference for self-resemblance in infant faces, men's preferences for selfresemblance
may be further modulated by perceived threat of cuckoldry.
Burriss, R. P., Welling, L. L. M., & Puts, D. A. (2011). Men’s attractiveness predicts their preference for female facial femininity when judging for short-term, but not long-term, partners. Personality and Individual Differences, 50(5), 542-546. » DOI PDF
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It is well established that women's preferences for masculinity are contingent on their own market-value and the duration of the sought relationship, but few studies have investigated similar effects in men. Here, we tested whether men's attractiveness predicts their preferences for feminine face shape in women when judging for long- and short-term relationship partners. We found that attractive men expressed a stronger preference for facial femininity compared to less attractive men. The relationship was evident when men judged women for a short-term, but not for a long-term, relationship. These findings suggest that market-value may influence men's preferences for feminine characteristics in women's faces and indicate that men's preferences may be subject to facultative variation to a greater degree than was previously thought.
Puts, D. A., Barndt, J. L., Welling, L. L. M., Dawood, K., & Burriss, R. P. (2011) Intrasexual competition among women: Vocal femininity affects perceptions of attractiveness and flirtatiousness. Personality and Individual Differences, 50(1), 111-115. » DOI
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Cognitive mechanisms for recognizing high quality sexual rivals should facilitate the economical allocation of mating effort. Women compete to attract male investment, and previous studies have shown that feminine voices are attractive to men. Here, we manipulated two sexually dimorphic acoustic parameters in women’s voices, fundamental frequency and formant dispersion, by the same perceptual amounts and explored the effects on attractiveness to heterosexual men in short- and long-term mating contexts. Femininity in both acoustic parameters was more attractive to men, especially in short-term mating contexts, and formant dispersion had a larger effect than did fundamental frequency. We then explored the effects of these manipulations on women’s perceptions of other women’s flirtatiousness and attractiveness to men. Feminine voices were perceived as more flirtatious and more attractive to men, and women were most sensitive to formant dispersion, the acoustic parameter that had the stronger effect on men’s preferences. These results support the interpretation that women use vocal femininity to track the threat potential of competitors.
2010
Puts, D. A., Cardenas, R. A., Bailey, D. H., Burriss, R. P., Jordan, C. L., & Breedlove, S. M. (2010). Salivary testosterone does not predict mental rotation performance in men or women. Hormones and Behavior, 58(2), 282-289. » DOI
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Multiple studies report relationships between circulating androgens and performance on sexually differentiated spatial cognitive tasks in human adults, yet other studies find no such relationships. Relatively small sample sizes are a likely source of some of these discrepancies. The present study thus tests for activational effects of testosterone (T) using a within-participants design by examining relationships between diurnal fluctuations in salivary T and performance on a male-biased spatial cognitive task (Mental Rotation Task) in the largest sample yet collected: 160 women and 177 men. T concentrations were unrelated to within-sex variation in mental rotation performance in both sexes. Further, between-session learning-related changes in performance were unrelated to T levels, and circadian changes in T were unrelated to changes in spatial performance in either sex. These results suggest that circulating T does not contribute substantially to sex differences in spatial ability in young men and women. By elimination, the contribution of androgens to sex differences in human performance on these tasks may be limited to earlier, organizational periods.
Grimbos, T., Dawood, K., Burriss, R. P., Zucker, K. J., & Puts, D. A. (2010). Sexual orientation and the 2nd to 4th finger length ratio: a meta-analysis in men and women. Behavioural Neuroscience, 124(2), 278-287. » DOI
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The ratio of the lengths of the second and fourth fingers (2D:4D) may serve as a marker for prenatal androgen signaling. Because people are typically unaware of their 2D:4D, its use allows possible effects of early sex hormone regimes and socialization to be disentangled. We conducted a meta-analysis on relationships between 2D:4D and sexual orientation in men and women in 18 independent samples of men and 16 independent samples of women. Collectively, these samples comprised 1,618 heterosexual men, 1,693 heterosexual women, 1,503 gay men, and 1,014 lesbians. In addition to identifying the normative heterosexual sex difference in 2D:4D for both hands, we found that heterosexual women had higher (more feminine) left- and right-hand 2D:4D than did lesbians, but we found no difference between heterosexual and gay men. Moderator analyses suggested that ethnicity explained some between-studies variation in men. These results add to a literature suggesting that early sex hormone signaling affects sexual orientation in women, and highlight the need for further research exploring the relationships among 2D:4D, sexual orientation, and ethnicity in men.
Burriss, R. P. (2010). The effect of veneers on cosmetic improvement: comments on Nalbandian and Millar, 2009. British Dental Journal, 208. 47. » DOI
2009
Burriss, R. P. (2009). Esthetic effect of orthodontic appliances: comments on Berto et al., 2009. American Journal of Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics, 136(3), 305-306. » DOI
Burriss, R. P. (2009). Symmetry is sexy: reply to Hodgson’s ‘Symmetry and Humans’. Antiquity, 83(322), 1170-1175. » PDF
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In his contribution to the Antiquity debate over the viability of Kohn and Mithen’s ‘Sexy
Handaxe Theory’ (1999), Hodgson (2009: 195-8) asserts that ‘symmetry is not connected with
health and thus cannot have served as a sign of genetic worth’. Because I find his interpretation
of the current literature on symmetry and its relationship to health and attractiveness to be
flawed, I cannot accept Hodgson’s argument. I address each of my concerns below in the first
part of this response. I also remain unconvinced that, even if Hodgson’s assertion were supported
by the literature, it would necessarily follow that symmetry in manufactured objects, including
Acheulean handaxes, cannot signal ‘sexiness’. In the second part of my response I explain why I
consider this to be so.
Roberts, S. C., Saxton, T. K., Murray, A. K., Burriss, R. P., Rowland, H. M., & Little, A. C. (2009). Static and dynamic facial images cue similar attractiveness judgements. Ethology, 115, 588-595. » DOI
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Approaches to the study of human mate preferences commonly involve judgements of facial photographs and assume that these judgements provide a reasonable reflection of how individuals would be perceived in real encounters. However, three recent studies have each reported non-significant correlations between judgements using photos (static images) and those using videos (dynamic images). These results have led previous authors to conclude that static and dynamic faces are judged according to different evaluative standards and that this may call into question the validity of findings from experiments using static images. However, the extent of the discrepancy in judgements between image formats remains unknown, and may be influenced by different experimental designs. Here, we tested the effects of several experimental design factors on the strength of correlations between image presentation formats. Using both male and female targets, we compared observed static–dynamic judgement correlations when (1) judgements were made by the same or different raters, or (2) by raters of the same- or opposite-sex to the targets, and (3) when dynamic stimuli were collected under different contextual scenarios. For (1) and (2), we also measured correlations when order of presentation of static and dynamic stimuli was alternated. Our results suggest that each design feature has independent effects on the strength of static–dynamic correlations. Correlations were stronger when static and dynamic stimuli were rated by the same raters. They were weakest for judgements of males by females, when based on seeing photos before videos. This interaction with sex is consistent with previous studies, indicating that females are especially responsive to male dynamic cues. However, in contrast to previous findings and in all cases, static–dynamic correlations were strongly and significantly positive, indicating that judgments based on static images provide an accurate representation of someone’s attractiveness during prolonged encounters.
Saxton, T. K., Burriss, R. P., Murray, A. K., Rowland, H. M., Roberts, S. C. (2009). Face, body and speech cues independently predict judgments of attractiveness. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 7, 23-35. » DOI
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Research on human attraction frequently makes use of single-modality stimuli such as neutral-expression facial photographs as proxy indicators of an individual’s attractiveness. However, we know little about how judgments of these single-modality stimuli correspond to judgments of stimuli that incorporate multi-modal cues of face, body and speech. In the present study, ratings of attractiveness judged from videos of participants introducing themselves were independently predicted by judgments of the participant’s facial attractiveness (a neutral-expression facial photograph masked to conceal the hairstyle), body attractiveness (a photograph of the upper body), and speech attractiveness (the soundtrack to the video). We also found that ratings of the face, body and speech were positively related to each other. Our results support the assumption that the single-modality stimuli used in much attractiveness research are valid proxy indicators of overall attractiveness in ecologically valid contexts, and complement literature showing cross-modality concordance of trait attractiveness, but also recommend that research relying on assessments of individual attractiveness take account of both visual and vocal attractiveness where possible.
Burriss, R. P., Rowland, H. M., & Little, A. C. (2009). Facial scarring enhances men’s attractiveness for short-term relationships. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 213-217. » DOI PDF
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It is widely thought in Western societies that facial scarring has a negative impact on
attractiveness. However, the specific effects of non-severe facial posttraumatic scarring
on third party perceptions of attractiveness are currently unknown. Here we show that
non-severe facial scarring can enhance perceptions of attractiveness in men but not in
women. We report the results of asking 147 female and 76 male participants to rate the
attractiveness of unscarred opposite-sex faces and faces that had been manipulated to
exhibit photorealistic scarring, demonstrating that scarring enhances women’s ratings of
male attractiveness for short-term, but not long-term, relationships. Men’s ratings of
female attractiveness were unaffected by scarring. Though the reported effect is small,
our results suggest that under certain circumstances scars may advertise valued
information about their bearers, and that the idea that scarring universally devalues
social perceptions can no longer be assumed to be true.
2008
Little, A. C., Burriss, R. P., Jones, B. C., DeBruine, L. M., & Caldwell, C. A. (2008). Social influence in human face preference: men and women are influenced more for long-term than short-term attractiveness decisions. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29(2), 140-146. » DOI
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In nonhuman animals, mate-choice copying has received much attention, with studies demonstrating that females tend to copy the choices of other females for specific males. Here we show, for both men and women, that pairing with an attractive partner increases the attractiveness of opposite-sex faces for long-term relationship decisions but not short-term decisions. Our study therefore shows social transmission of face preference in humans, which may have important consequences for the evolution of human traits. Our study also highlights the flexibility of human mate choice and suggests that, for humans, learning about nonphysical traits that are important to pair-bonding drives copying-like behavior.
2007
Little, A. C., Jones, B. C., & Burriss, R. P. (2007). Preferences for masculinity in male bodies change across the menstrual cycle. Hormones and Behavior, 51, 633-639. » DOI
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In human females cyclic shifts in preference have been documented for odour and physical and behavioral male traits. Women prefer the smell of dominant males, more masculine male faces and men behaving more dominantly when at peak fertility than at other times in their menstrual cycle. Here we examine variation in preferences for body sexual dimorphism. Across two studies, both between- and within-participant, we show that women prefer greater masculinity in male bodies at times when their fertility is likely highest, in the follicular phase of their cycle. Shifts were seen when rating for a short-term but not when rating for a long-term relationship. In line with studies showing similar effects for facial sexual dimorphism, we also show that women prefer greater masculinity when they think themselves attractive than when they think themselves less attractive. These results indicate that women's preferences for sexual dimorphism in male bodies follow a similar pattern as found for sexual dimorphism and dominance in other domains and such differences in preference may serve a similar function. Cyclic preferences could influence women to select partners when most likely to become pregnant that possess traits that may be most likely to maximize their offspring's quality via attraction to masculinity or serve to help acquire investment via attraction to femininity.
Burriss, R. P., Little, A. C., & Nelson, E. C. (2007). 2D:4D and sexually dimorphic facial characteristics. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36(3), 377-384 » DOI PDF
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The second-to-fourth-digit ratio (2D:4D) may be
related to prenatal testosterone and estrogen levels and pubertal
face growth. Several studies have recently provided
evidence that 2D:4D is associated with other-rated facial
masculinity and dominance, but not with facialmetric measures
of masculinity. We found that localized face shape
differences, shown here to be sexually dimorphic and related
to ratings of dominance, were associated with direct and indirect
measurements of 2D:4D. In this study we examined
various localized features of the face, showing nose width,
jaw angle, and lip height to be sexually dimorphic. We then
had faces rated for dominance and saw that the most dimorphic
characteristics were those most associated with rated
dominance, with typically masculine characteristics tending
to be associated with high ratings of dominance. Finally,
2D:4D measurements were made using three different techniques.
High (feminine) values of 2D:4D were associated
with feminine facial characteristics in women, but not in
men. It was concluded that certain aspects of facial development
are governed by factors that are established prenatally.
These aspects may be associated with perceptions of the
self by others that are important in the social environment,
Little, A. C., Burriss, R. P., Jones, B. C., & Roberts, S. C. (2007). Facial appearance affects voting decisions. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28, 18-27. » DOI
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Human groups are unusual among primates in that our leaders are often democratically selected. Faces affect hiring decisions and could influence voting behavior. Here, we show that facial appearance has important effects on choice of leader. We show that differences in facial shape alone between candidates can predict who wins or loses in an election (Study 1) and that changing context from war time to peace time can affect which face receives the most votes (Study 2). Our studies highlight the role of face shape in voting behavior and the role of personal attributions in face perception. We also show that there may be no general characteristics of faces that can win votes, demonstrating that face traits and information about the environment interact in choice of leader.
Jones, B. C., DeBruine, L. M., Little, A. C., Burriss, R. P., & Feinberg, D. R. (2007). Social transmission of face preferences among humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B, 274, 899-903. » DOI
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Previous studies demonstrating mate choice copying effects among females in non-human species have led many researchers to propose that social transmission of mate preferences may influence sexual selection for male traits. Although it has been suggested that social transmission may also influence mate preferences in humans, there is little empirical support for such effects. Here, we show that observing other women with smiling (i.e. positive) expressions looking at male faces increased women's preferences for those men to a greater extent than did observing women with neutral (i.e. relatively negative) expressions looking at male faces. By contrast, the reverse was true for male participants (i.e. observing women with neutral expressions looking at male faces increased male participant's preferences for those men to a greater extent than did observing women smiling at male faces). This latter finding suggests that within-sex competition promotes negative attitudes among men towards other men who are the target of positive social interest from women. Our findings demonstrate that social transmission of face preferences influences judgments of men's attractiveness, potentially demonstrating a mechanism for social transmission of mate preferences.
2006
Burriss, R. P., & Little, A. C. (2006). Effects of partner conception risk phase on male perception of dominance in faces. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27, 297-305. » DOI PDF
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Several studies have suggested that women may prefer to engage in extra-pair copulations with
males who appear dominant and to do so near ovulation. While there is some evidence that males
are more jealous of dominant rivals and more proprietary when their partners are near ovulation,
there is none that suggests the existence of counterstrategic perceptual shifts that mirror those seen
in women. We provide such evidence here. Composites of male faces that were either high or low in
rated dominance were presented to male participants who provided ratings of dominance. A threeway
interaction between stimulus-face dominance, partner conception risk phase, and partner oral
contraceptive use was found; men whose partners did not use an oral contraceptive and were in the
high conception risk phase of their cycle displayed increased dominance ratings of high-dominance
male faces. We conclude that males have evolved counterstrategies to deal with female infidelity that
include an overattribution of dominance to those rivals most likely to present a threat at times when
that threat is greatest. This overattribution is likely to lead to increases in jealousy and materetention
behaviors.
