The role of fluctuating asymmetry, facial and body characteristics, and self-perceived attractiveness in sociosexual orientation

In evolutionary psychology, physical attractiveness is believed to be an important cue of mate quality and an indicator of a person’s mating success. This study sought to investigate the link between measured and self-perceived attractiveness and sociosexual orientation by using optical 3D scanners to extract anthropometric and fluctuating asymmetry measures that are believed to signal attractiveness. The sample consisted of 59 women and 33 men (mean age = 21.5). Fluctuating asymmetry did not reliably predict people’s sociosexual orientation or measured attractiveness, however women with more feminine faces had less facial fluctuating asymmetry and women with more symmetrical bodies weighed less. Additionally, bigger breast size indicated an earlier age of first sexual intercourse. In men, no significant relationship between body and facial fluctuating asymmetry and body measures were found. Self-perceived attractiveness correlated significantly with body fluctuating asymmetry in women and with volume-height index and waist-to-chest ratio with men. It also served as an indicator of more unrestricted sociosexual behaviour in men. These findings partly support the hypothesis that certain cues thought to signal attractiveness are linked to an individual’s mating success. However, the findings also raise important questions about the differences between measured and self-perceived attractiveness and the lack of any significant relationship between sexual behaviour and fluctuating asymmetry, which is thought to signal genetic fitness