Transcript The Science of Sex Appeal

The Science of Sex Appeal
Rachel Hepworth
Sexy Voices
Random students were asked to rate male and female
voices for their sex appeal. They listened to two different voices
of the opposite sex, then voted which voice they found sexier. It
was replicated with four participants of each sex. In the end,
males chose females who had higher pitched voices, and females
chose males with deeper voices.
The reasons behind males choosing higher pitched female
voices were: they sounded younger, healthier, and sexier. When
in fact younger women and women with higher estrogen levels
have higher pitched voices. The more estrogen in a woman
usually makes for a prettier, more attractive face and body
shape.
Females on the other hand said that males with deeper voices
sounded stronger, more masculine. The testosterone that makes
a males voice deeper during puberty, also makes for a more
attractive face and body.
Somehow both women and men are picking up on clues
from the sound of the opposite sexes voice, of who will look
more attractive in person. In reality most of these assumptions
are true, but we are unconsciously making them.
Facial Symmetry
In an experiment designed to test the sex appeal of
symmetrical face shapes, one man and one woman took two
different pictures. In the first they wore one outfit and the
second changed clothes, and the woman added a little makeup
and changed her hair. They proceeded to alter the first picture
so that it was completely symmetrical. The second they made
only slightly unsymmetrical. Then they posted them at a local
college and told participants that the two different pictures
were of twins, and asked students to rate which was better
looking. Eight out of ten participants rated the first,
symmetrical, picture as more attractive.
When a fetus is in the womb it is supposed to develop along the
central axis of the spine. Which makes everything along the
opposite side symmetrical. When there are any abnormalities
like nutrition and little infections, it alters the development
causing unsymmetricity.
So why would a face be more attractive if it were
symmetrical? Unconsciously we are looking for someone who is
healthy, both physically and genetically. We think: someone
with a symmetrical face must have good genetics.
Copulance and Men
Does copulance effect men? Copulance is a pheromone
secreted by women when they are ovulating.
Random men were asked to rate the attractiveness of
pictures of different women, while being exposed to a low level
of artificial copulance that the men could not detect.
The results were that men couldn’t distinguish between
those more attractive and less attractive women. The presence
of the copulance caused the levels of testosterone in the men
to increase, lowering their ability to think clearly.
Other Studies
 Walking
 Picture of mate
 Ovulation
 Copulance vs. androstenone
 Partner test/face structure study
Works Cited
"Female Copulance." Science of Sex Appeal. Web. 18 Oct
2010. <http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/science-of-sexappeal-sexy-secretions/>.
"Sexy Voices." Science of Sex Appeal. Web. 18 Oct 2010.
<http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/science-of-sexappeal-human-behavior/>.
"The Beauty of Symmetry ." Science of Sex Appeal. Web.
18 Oct 2010. <"Sexy Voices." Science of Sex Appeal.
Web. 18 Oct 2010. .>.