I'm back after a holiday break to look at the psychology of appearance enhancement: what does our use of cosmetics say about us to other people? This episode also features an interview with Matthew Vazquez of California State University San Bernardino, who presented his research exploring the complexities of mate attraction at the 2018 HBES conference.
Does the use of make up, and other efforts at appearance enhancement, affect how we are seen by others? Freestocks
The articles covered in the show:
Bradshaw, H. K., Profitt Leyva, R., Nicolas, S. C. A., & Hill, S. E. (2019). Costly female appearance-enhancement provides cues of short-term mating effort: The case of cosmetic surgery. Personality and Individual Differences, 138, 48-55. Read summary
DelPriore, D. J., Bradshaw, H. K., & Hill, S. E. (2018). Appearance enhancement produces a strategic beautification penalty among women. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 12(4), 348-366. Read summary
Vazquez, M., Cisneros, A., & Goetz, C. (2018). Mate value discrepancies and relationship satisfaction in heterosexual and non-heterosexual romantic relationships. Poster presented at the Human Behavior and Evolution Society Annual Conference.
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Masculine masks: what a bushy beard says about a man's attitudes to women, and why a hit of the male hormone testosterone could have you...
Masculine masks: what a bushy beard says about a man's attitudes to women, and why a hit of the male hormone testosterone could have you reaching for your make up bag.
NOTE (8th Feb 2016): The scientists behind the testosterone and make up research have voluntarily retracted their paper. For more information, visit Retraction Watch.
Eurovision winner, Conchita Wurst. Pretty much the perfect image for a podcast about beards and make up. Alexander Gotter/Flickr
The articles covered in the show:
Fisher, C. I., Hahn, A. C., DeBruine, L. M., & Jones, B. C. (in press). Women’s preference for attractive makeup tracks changes in their salivary testosterone. Psychological Science. Read summary
Oldmeadow, J. A., & Dixson, B. J. (in press). The association between men’s sexist attitudes and facial hair. Archives of Sexual Behavior. Read summary
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Is blonde and red hair attractive because of how it looks, or because it’s rare? Also, “my genes made me do it”: can men (or women) blame th...
Is blonde and red hair attractive because of how it looks, or because it’s rare? Also, “my genes made me do it”: can men (or women) blame their cheating ways on their genetic inheritance? And we also continue last month’s foray into the murky world of mate-poaching, and discover the differences between the sexes when it comes to detecting potential partner pilferers.
Some have theorised that red and blonde hair is attractive because it is rare. New research by Zinnia Janif tests this idea. Image credit: qsimple on flickr.com
The articles covered in the show:
Janif, Z. J., Brooks, R. C., & Dixson, B. J. (in press). Are preferences for women's hair color frequency-dependent? Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology. Read summary
Ein-Dor, T., Perry, A., Hirschberger, G., Birnbaum, G. E., & Deutsch, D. (in press). Coping with mate poaching: gender differences in detection of infidelity-related threats. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summary
Zietsch, B. P., Westberg, L., Santtila, P., & Jern, P. (in press). Genetic analysis of human extrapair mating: Heritability, between-sex correlation, and receptor genes for vasopressin and oxytocin. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summary
Friday, November 02, 2012
This month, we find out how the menstrual cycle influences competition and cooperation and why women’s sexual interest takes a nosedive afte...
This month, we find out how the menstrual cycle influences competition and cooperation and why women’s sexual interest takes a nosedive after childbirth. We also ask the question: what’s the point of cuddling? Does it make us feel closer to our partner, or is it just a stepping stone to sex?
"Ah, a nice cuddle. Cuddles are lovely. Not as lovely as sex, obviously..."Freestocks
The articles covered in the show:
van Anders, S. M., Edelstein, R. S., Wade, R. M., & Samples-Steele, C. R. (in press). Descriptive experiences and sexual vs. nurturant aspects of cuddling between adult romantic partners. Archives of Sexual Behavior.Read summary
Rupp, H. A., James, T. W., Ketterson, E. D., Sengelaub, D. R., Ditzen, B., & Heiman, J. R. (in press). Lower sexual interest in postpartum women: Relationship to amygdala activation and intranasal oxytocin. Hormones and Behavior. Read summary
Lucas, M., & Koff, E. (in press). How conception risk affects competition and cooperation with attractive women and men. Evolution and Human Behavior.Read summary
Monday, November 28, 2011
How beauty is contributing to the worldwide population explosion, why men turn into idiots when a woman steps into the room, and why Meg Rya...
How beauty is contributing to the worldwide population explosion, why men turn into idiots when a woman steps into the room, and why Meg Ryan was right: how frequently do women fake orgasm and why do they do it?
From Miriam Law-Smith's study, composite faces of 18 women with lowest ‘ideal number of children’ (left) and 18 women with highest ‘ideal number of children’ (right).
The articles covered in the show:
Law Smith, M. J., Deady, D. K., Moore, F. R., Jones, B. C., Cornwell, R. E., Stirrat, M., et al. (in press). Maternal tendencies in women are associated with oestrogen levels and facial femininity. Hormones and Behavior. Read summary
Nauts, S., Metzmacher, M., Verwijmeren, T., Rommeswinkel, V., & Karremans, J. C. (in press). The mere anticipation of an interaction with a woman can impair men’s cognitive performance. Archives of Sexual Behavior.Read summary
Kaighobadi, F., Shackelford, T. K., & Weekes-Shackelford, V. A. (in press). Do women pretend orgasm to retain a mate? Archives of Sexual Behavior. Read summary
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Does being attractive always help? We discover the social advantages that come with being slightly less than supermodel material. Also, do a...
Does being attractive always help? We discover the social advantages that come with being slightly less than supermodel material. Also, do attractive people have attractive brothers and sisters, and where are all the female comedians? Do women prefer hearing jokes to telling them?
Agthe, M., Spörrle, M., & Maner, J. K. (2011). Does being attractive always help? Positive and negative effects of attractiveness on social decision making. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(8), 1042-1054. Read summary
Garver-Apgar, C. E., Eaton, M. A., Tybur, J. M., & Emery Thompson, M. (in press). Evidence of intralocus sexual conflict: physically and hormonally masculine individuals have more attractive brothers relative to sisters. Evolution and Human Behavior.Read summary
Wilbur, C. J., & Campbell, L. (2011). Humor in romantic contexts: Do men participate and women evaluate? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(7), 918-929. Read summary
Sunday, April 26, 2009
How our feelings of attraction can be influenced by brain chemicals. Also, one night stand or long-term relationship: do the things we want ...
How our feelings of attraction can be influenced by brain chemicals. Also, one night stand or long-term relationship: do the things we want from a partner change as we get older? We also discover how wearing sexy clothes makes our face more attractive. Plus, when is a woman most likely to agree to a dance or give out her phone number?
Theodoridou, A., Rowe, A. C., Penton-Voak, I. S., & Rogers, P. J. (2009). Oxytocin and social perception: oxytocin increases perceived facial trustworthiness and attractiveness. Hormones and Behavior.Read summary
Bleske-Rechek, A. L., Vanden-Heuvel, B., & Vander-Wyst, M. (2009). Age variation in mating strategies and mate preferences: beliefs versus reality. Evolutionary Psychology, 7(2), 179-205. Read article
Lõhmus, M., Sundström, L. F., & Björklund, M. (2009). Dress for success: human facial expressions are important signals of emotions. Annales Zoologici Fennici, 46(1), 75-80. Read article
This is the archive for the Psychology of Attractiveness Podcast, a science show covering the most interesting and cutting edge research on the psychology of attraction and relationships. The podcast was active between 2009 and 2019. All episodes remain available.
The podcast was produced by Dr Robert Burriss, a psychologist who has held research posts at universities in the UK, USA, and Switzerland.
