Perception of facial attractivity of non-contact and combative athletes.
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | 11th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON KINANTHROPOLOGY Sport and Quality of Life |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://conference.fsps.muni.cz/media/3065171/proceedings-of-the-11th-conference-on-kinanthropology.pdf |
| Keywords | Mating strategy; masculinity; sexual attractiveness; athletes |
| Description | Female partner preferences may change over the time. They are influenced by many factors. The key determinants in sexual strategies and perception of attractiveness include fertility and preferences of either a long-term or a short-term relationship. The main differences are in perceptions of male masculinity and the ability to provide and raise offspring. This paper aims to describe changes in the perception of the attractiveness of photographs of male faces of elite golfers (non-contact sport) and MMA fighters (combative sport). The data was collected through anonymous questionnaires from 400 women over the age of 15. A questionnaire included photos of athletes in random order and 1-10 scale rating (10 for the most attractive ones). In this research, the following factors were observed: age, sexual activity/passivity, use of hormonal contraceptives, duration of actual relationship, and number of children they had. For data analysis, the effect size was calculated by using Cohen’s D between the average mark of contact and non-contact athletes. The greatest differences in the perception of facial attractiveness among the women in the research sample were caused by age and the number of children. This can be explained by low fertility of older women and by lower needs for more offspring in women with more children. In both cases, strong masculine indicators which are typical for contact athletes are no longer so important to women. On the contrary, it can be assumed that most of Czech women of lower age (15-20 years) do not look for a father of their children and alifelong partner yet, and non-contact athletes are therefore not so preferred. An active sexual life and the use of hormonal contraception show only a small change in the preferences. In both of these cases in which women are expected to have higher fertility, the perception of combative athletes attractiveness has grown slightly. |