Cues to the sex ratio of the local population influence women’s preferences for facial symmetry

In nonhuman species, increasing the proportion of potential mates in the local population often increases preferences for high-quality mates, while increasing the proportion of potential competitors for mates intensifies within-sex competition. In two experiments, we tested for analogous effects in humans by manipulating pictorial cues to the sex ratio of the local population and assessing women’s preferences for facial symmetry, a putative cue …