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Oral contraceptives and women's preferences for facial masculinity and symmetry: Evidence from a double-blind randomized controlled trial

Ranehill, Eva LU ; Zethraeus, Niklas ; Apicella, Coren ; Blomberg, liselott ; von Schoultz, Bo ; Hirschberg, Angelica Lindén ; Johannesson, Magnus and Dreber, Anna (2025) In Evolution and Human Behavior 46(5). p.1-12
Abstract
Several studies have reported that heterosexual women's preferences for male faces vary with hormonal fluctuations over the menstrual cycle and that women tend to prefer more masculine faces during ovulation or when not using hormonal contraceptives. While this has been tested using observational data, we provide the first double-blind randomized controlled study testing if oral contraceptives reduce preferences for facial masculinity and symmetry. Three hundred and forty women were randomized to either oral contraceptives or placebo and their facial preferences were measured at baseline and after 3 months. All analyses follow a pre-registered pre-analysis plan. No statistically significant effect of oral contraceptives on preferences for... (More)
Several studies have reported that heterosexual women's preferences for male faces vary with hormonal fluctuations over the menstrual cycle and that women tend to prefer more masculine faces during ovulation or when not using hormonal contraceptives. While this has been tested using observational data, we provide the first double-blind randomized controlled study testing if oral contraceptives reduce preferences for facial masculinity and symmetry. Three hundred and forty women were randomized to either oral contraceptives or placebo and their facial preferences were measured at baseline and after 3 months. All analyses follow a pre-registered pre-analysis plan. No statistically significant effect of oral contraceptives on preferences for facial masculinity or facial symmetry was found. In pre-registered exploratory analyses, we further find no statistically significant associations between menstrual cycle phase or hormone levels and facial preferences. These results provide evidence against a causal effect of oral contraceptives on women's preferences for masculine and symmetric faces, although our results should be interpreted cautiously as we only find strong evidence against effect sizes larger than about 0.4 Cohen's d units. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Dual mating strategy, Facial preferences, Contraceptives, Cycle effects, Experiment
in
Evolution and Human Behavior
volume
46
issue
5
article number
106713
pages
1 - 12
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:105008314625
ISSN
1090-5138
DOI
10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106713
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7a2843f4-c4aa-47be-ab43-8c4d7dc558c8
date added to LUP
2025-09-04 10:25:12
date last changed
2025-09-05 10:59:08
@article{7a2843f4-c4aa-47be-ab43-8c4d7dc558c8,
  abstract     = {{Several studies have reported that heterosexual women's preferences for male faces vary with hormonal fluctuations over the menstrual cycle and that women tend to prefer more masculine faces during ovulation or when not using hormonal contraceptives. While this has been tested using observational data, we provide the first double-blind randomized controlled study testing if oral contraceptives reduce preferences for facial masculinity and symmetry. Three hundred and forty women were randomized to either oral contraceptives or placebo and their facial preferences were measured at baseline and after 3 months. All analyses follow a pre-registered pre-analysis plan. No statistically significant effect of oral contraceptives on preferences for facial masculinity or facial symmetry was found. In pre-registered exploratory analyses, we further find no statistically significant associations between menstrual cycle phase or hormone levels and facial preferences. These results provide evidence against a causal effect of oral contraceptives on women's preferences for masculine and symmetric faces, although our results should be interpreted cautiously as we only find strong evidence against effect sizes larger than about 0.4 Cohen's d units.}},
  author       = {{Ranehill, Eva and Zethraeus, Niklas and Apicella, Coren and Blomberg, liselott and von Schoultz, Bo and Hirschberg, Angelica Lindén and Johannesson, Magnus and Dreber, Anna}},
  issn         = {{1090-5138}},
  keywords     = {{Dual mating strategy; Facial preferences; Contraceptives; Cycle effects; Experiment}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{1--12}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Evolution and Human Behavior}},
  title        = {{Oral contraceptives and women's preferences for facial masculinity and symmetry: Evidence from a double-blind randomized controlled trial}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106713}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106713}},
  volume       = {{46}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}