Our fascination with birth control pills is not only limited to the wonders it can to avoid unwanted pregnancies. But a recent study suggests that women on the pill preferred men with less masculine features.
The results were obtained in two-parts – 18 heterosexual college-aged women in the UK were shown composite images of men’s and women’s faces, and were told to adjust the images until they’ve found a face they’d be most attracted to for a short-term or long-term relationship.
The women were tested twice – the first time not being on the pill; and three months later when all of them were. They also included a group of women not on the pill.
The results show that women were less partial to masculine facial features when they were on the birth control pill than when they were not on it.
Masculine features included larger jaws, more prominent brow ridges and more angular features. So how does the birth control pill affect women’s choices to go for less masculine faces?
Study researcher Anthony Little suggests that it’s still an open question about actual mechanism.
“The pill changes the hormonal profile of women, and this hormonal profile influences bodily processes concerned with conception and reproduction,” said Little.
He also added that hormones appear to affect psychological processes, such as determining preferences, though the process is still not well understood.
[Source]
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