title: Women's preference for masculine traits is disrupted by images of male-on-female aggression.
abstract: Women's preferences for men's masculinized faces and voices were assessed after women (n = 331) were primed with images of male-on-male aggression, male-on-female aggression, pathogens, and neutral scenes. Male-on-male aggression and pathogen primes were associated with increased preference for masculine traits, but the same effect emerged in the neutral condition. We show the increased preference for masculine traits was due to repeated exposure to these traits, not the priming images themselves. Images of male-on-female aggression were an exception; these elicited feelings of disgust and anger appeared to disrupt the preference for masculinized traits. The results suggest women process men's facial and vocal traits as signals of aggressive potential and lose any preference for these traits with cues indicating men might direct this aggression toward them.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: Yaoran
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: Drew H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Winegard
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Puts
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Auburn Hills, Michigan, United States of America.
authors.forename: Lisa L M
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Welling
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America; Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, United States of America.
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Geary
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003463:Cues; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D057228:Masculinity; D019655:Quantitative Trait, Heritable; D014831:Voice; D055815:Young Adult