Estudio de la relación entre características antropométricas, atractivo facial y calidad seminal.

by Gutierrez de Aguas, Ricardo Gonzalo

SUMMARY Facial attractiveness appear to be reliably associated with mate choice. If what is deemed attractive about a males face is an honest signal of phenotypic quality, one might anticipate that facial attractiveness judgments would be correlated with reproductive quality. The main objective of this study was to analyse if the assessment of facial attractiveness, give by independent groups of women and men from different races and geographical location, was correlated with the seminal parameters performed in two samples of student selected from Universitat de València. Also, it has been analysed if certain anthropometric parameters, both facial parameters and asymmetry, were correlated with the evaluation of facial attractiveness. Each individual provides a semen sample, and frontal and lateral photographs were taken. In the frontal photographs were measured 13 facial parameters and 11 bilateral asymmetry parameters. Semen analysis was made according to standard WHO (1999) guidelines for morphology, motility, and concentration. Moreover, a Sperm Index (SI) was calculated as the principal component of these parameters. Women rated the attractiveness, as a possible permanent couple, of pictures. Men also rated the images for attractiveness measured as mens perception of what women would choose as sexual partners. The obtained results show than women of different geographical location, of the same race or from different race, and cultural background show a great agreement in the facial attractiveness assessment and this assessment is significantly correlated with the seminal parameters: motility, morphology and SI. In the same way, the correlation between the facial attractiveness given by men and by women of the same location or cultural background was highly significant. In conclusion, it could be said than in Homo sapiens still remains the capacity of identify the individuals with good reproductive capacity, based in facial information, independently of raters race, cultural background or gender, al least in the analysed populations. However, it can not be said than the facial anthropometric parameters analysed could explain the attractiveness, even though, usually, it was observed a tendency to judge as more attractive masculine faces that are narrower, as well as those showing a predominance of right side facial characters.