Susan M. Hughes

Sex differences in morphological predictors of sexual behavior: Shoulder to hip and waist to hip ratios

Abstract Differences exist between males and females in fat distribution, skeletal morphology, muscle mass, and body shape. We investigated sex differences in shoulder to hip ratios (SHR) and waist to hip ratios (WHR), and their relationships to different features of sexual behavior. Males with high SHR and females with low WHR reported sexual intercourse at an earlier age, more sexual partners, more extra-pair copulations (EPC), and having engaged in more instances of intercourse with people who were involved in another relationship (i.e., having themselves been EPC partners). The predictive value of these morphological features was highly sex-specific.

The sound of symmetry: Voice as a marker of developmental instability

Abstract Low fluctuating asymmetry (FA, a measure of deviation from bilateral symmetry) appears to be a phenotypic marker of reproductive viability and health. In the present study, we investigated whether ratings of voice attractiveness were correlated with variations in FA. Several bilateral traits were measured to calculate a FA index and independent raters who did not know and never saw the subjects assessed the attractiveness of recordings of each subjects voice. Voices of subjects with greater bilateral symmetry were rated as more attractive by members of both sexes than those with asymmetrical traits.

Sex Differences in Romantic Kissing among College Students: An Evolutionary Perspective

This study provides a descriptive account of kissing behavior in a large sample of undergraduate college students and considers kissing in the context of both short-term and long-term mating relationships. Kissing was examined as a mate assessment device, a means of promoting pair bonds, and a means of inducing sexual arousal and receptivity. A total 1,041 college students completed one of three questionnaires measuring kissing preferences, attitudes, styles, and behaviors. Results showed that females place more importance on kissing as a mate assessment device and as a means of initiating, maintaining, and monitoring the current status of their relationship with a long-term partner. In contrast, males place less importance on kissing, especially with short-term partners, and appear to use kissing to increase the likelihood of having sex. The results suggest that kissing may play an important role as an adaptive courtship/mating ritual.

Sex differences in mating strategies: Mate guarding, infidelity and multiple concurrent sex partners

We investigated sex differences in post-copulatory mate guarding behaviors, jealous reactions to opposite- versus same-sex infidelity, and preferences for multiple concurrent sex partners. Results ...

The processing of auditory and visual recognition of self-stimuli.

This study examined self-recognition processing in both the auditory and visual modalities by determining how comparable hearing a recording of ones own voice was to seeing photograph of ones own face. We also investigated whether the simultaneous presentation of auditory and visual self-stimuli would either facilitate or inhibit self-identification. Ninety-one participants completed reaction-time tasks of self-recognition when presented with their own faces, own voices, and combinations of the two. Reaction time and errors made when responding with both the right and left hand were recorded to determine if there were lateralization effects on these tasks. Our findings showed that visual self-recognition for facial photographs appears to be superior to auditory self-recognition for voice recordings. Furthermore, a combined presentation of ones own face and voice appeared to inhibit rather than facilitate self-recognition and there was a left-hand advantage for reaction time on the combined-presentation tasks.

Sex Differences in Post-Coital Behaviors in Long- and Short-Term Mating: An Evolutionary Perspective

Few empirical studies have been devoted to exploring behaviors occurring immediately following sexual intercourse. Therefore, this study conducts an exploratory investigation of various post-coital behaviors that the authors propose may reflect the divergent adaptive reproductive strategies of each sex as understood from an evolutionary perspective. An online questionnaire was administered to 170 individuals examining sex differences in post-coital compared to pre-coital activities related to pair-bonding with long-term mates, as well as a variety of common post-coital activities comparing short- and long-term mating contexts. It was found that females were more likely than males to initiate and place greater importance on several behaviors related to intimacy and bonding following sex with long-term partners. Males were more likely to initiate kissing before sex, and females after sex. Intimate talk and kissing were rated by both sexes as more important before intercourse with a long-term partner, whereas cuddling and professing ones love was rated more important after sex. In a second set of more specific post-coital behaviors, females were more likely to engage in post-coital behaviors related to bonding with both short- and long-term partners, whereas males were more likely to engage in ones that were extrinsically rewarding or increased the likelihood of further coital acts.

I like My Voice Better: Self-Enhancement Bias in Perceptions of Voice Attractiveness

Previous research shows that the human voice can communicate a wealth of nonsemantic information; preferences for voices can predict health, fertility, and genetic quality of the speaker, and people often use voice attractiveness, in particular, to make these assessments of others. But it is not known what we think of the attractiveness of our own voices as others hear them. In this study eighty men and women rated the attractiveness of an array of voice recordings of different individuals and were not told that their own recorded voices were included in the presentation. Results showed that participants rated their own voices as sounding more attractive than others had rated their voices, and participants also rated their own voices as sounding more attractive than they had rated the voices of others. These findings suggest that people may engage in vocal implicit egotism, a form of self-enhancement.

What sounds beautiful looks beautiful stereotype: The matching of attractiveness of voices and faces

This study experimentally tested whether individuals have a tendency to associate attractive voices with attractive faces and, alternately, unattractive voices with unattractive faces. Participants viewed pairings of facial photographs of attractive and unattractive individuals and had listened to attractive and unattractive voice samples and were asked to indicate which facial picture they thought was more likely to be the speaker of the voice heard. Results showed that there was an overall tendency to associate attractive voices with attractive faces and unattractive voices with unattractive faces, suggesting that a “what-sounds-beautiful-looks-beautiful” stereotype exists. Interestingly, there was an even stronger propensity to pair unattractive voices to unattractive faces than for the attractive voice–face matching.

The Impact of Prior Heterosexual Experiences on Homosexuality in Women

An abundance of unwanted sexual opportunities perpetrated by insensitive, physically and sexually abusive men may be a factor in the expression of homosexuality in some women. In the present study, we examined self-reports of dating histories, sexual experiences, and physical and sexual abuse among lesbians and heterosexual women. Lesbians with prior heterosexual experience reported more severe and more frequent physical abuse by men. Lesbians also reported more instances of forced, unwanted sexual contact perpetrated by men, and this sexual abuse occurred at a significantly earlier age. These data show that adverse experiences with the opposite sex are more common in lesbians than heterosexual women, and therefore negative heterosexual experiences may be a factor in the expression of a same-sex sexual orientation in women. We propose an evolutionary psychological interpretation of this phenomenon based on the cardinally different mating strategies of women and men that have evolved for maximizing the likelihood of reproduction.

Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll: Evidence Supporting the Storied Trilogy

Sex, drugs, and rock and roll (SDRR) is a storied trilogy in popular culture. However, in scientific literature, there is little empirical evidence to determine if there is a positive relationship between these three phenomena, despite biological, psychological, and social reasons that would suggest they are connected. Via questionnaire, we asked participants to selfreport alcohol and drug use, sexual behaviors and attitudes, and musical ability and preference. Although evidence was limited, there was some support for an SDRR connection, particularly among male performers and female listeners of rock and “harder” music. Interestingly, this mimics patterns of several bird species where males are the producers and females are the consumers of song. Ethological considerations and future directions are discussed.