Individual attractiveness preferences differentially modulate immediate and voluntary attention

Scientific Reports, vol. 13, pp. 2147

Abstract

Physical attractiveness plays a crucial role in mate choice for both men and women. This is reflected in visual attention: people immediately attend towards and look longer at attractive faces, especially when they are motivated to find a partner. However, previous studies did not incorporate real-life dating decisions. Here, we aimed to combine attentional tasks with individual attractiveness ratings and a real-life mate choice context, namely a speed-dating paradigm. We investigated whether heterosexual non-committed young adults showed biases in immediate and voluntary attention towards attractive faces and preferred dating partners. In line with previous research, we found considerable individual differences in individual attractiveness preferences. Furthermore, our results showed that men had a bias towards attractive faces and preferred dating partners in the immediate attention task, while results for women were mixed. In the voluntary attention task, however, both men and women had an attentional bias towards attractive faces and preferred dating partners. Our results suggest that individual attractiveness preferences are good predictors of especially voluntary attention. We discuss these findings from an evolutionary perspective and suggest directions for future research.

Authors 4

1. Tom S. Roth corresponding Aachen Cognitive Psychology Unit Institute of Psychology, Leiden University Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences

   Leiden University · Utrecht University

   Affiliation as printed

   Animal Behaviour & Cognition, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. t.s.roth@fsw.leidenuniv.nl

   Apenheul Primate Park, J.C. Wilslaan 21, 7313 HK, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. t.s.roth@fsw.leidenuniv.nl

   Cognitive Psychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, The Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, The Netherlands. t.s.roth@fsw.leidenuniv.nl

   Animal Behaviour & Cognition, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

   Apenheul Primate Park, J.C. Wilslaan 21, 7313 HK, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands

   Cognitive Psychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, The Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, The Netherlands

2. Iliana Samara Aachen Cognitive Psychology Unit Institute of Psychology, Leiden University Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences Leiden Institute of Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Cognitive Psychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, The Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, The Netherlands

   Leiden Institute of Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands

3. Juan Olvido Perea‐García Aachen Cognitive Psychology Unit Institute of Psychology, Leiden University Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Cognitive Psychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, The Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, The Netherlands

4. Mariska Esther Kret Aachen Cognitive Psychology Unit Institute of Psychology, Leiden University Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences Leiden Institute of Brain and Cognition

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Cognitive Psychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, The Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2333 AK, Leiden, The Netherlands

   Leiden Institute of Brain and Cognition (LIBC), Leiden, The Netherlands