Facial Sexual Dimorphism and Attractiveness Perception in High Autistic Trait Individuals

ORCID

Abstract

Perceiving and recognizing faces are vital components for social interactions among humans. Extensive prior research has shown that facial sexual dimorphism, a nonverbal social signal, contributes to perceived facial attractiveness for neurotypical individuals. However, there has been no research investigating if that might also be true for high autistic trait individuals. The current study investigates the facial qualities that high autistic trait individuals find attractive in others. In Study 1, faces with altered levels of sexual dimorphism were presented for five seconds, and the gaze behaviour of high and low autistic trait participants was recorded while they rated the attractiveness of the images. In Study 2, participants were given unlimited viewing time to rate face attractiveness. In Study 1, high trait individuals made fewer fixations to the eye region compared to low individuals, but both groups reported similar facial femininity/masculinity preferences. In Study 2, results showed that preference for masculinity in both male and female faces increased as autistic traits increased, indicating a positive association between autistic traits and masculinity preference. A similar trend was observed when comparing individuals with high versus low autistic traits, but this group difference did not reach statistical significance. The current exploratory research is the first to investigate potential links between what facial characteristics contribute to attractiveness in high trait individuals. The findings of this investigation suggest that individuals with higher levels of autistic traits may show a greater preference for masculine features in both male and female faces. Notably, when participants were given unlimited viewing time, distinctions in perceived facial attractiveness emerged as a function of autistic traits, including a significant interaction between autistic trait level and the sex of the face.

Publication Date

2025-06-27

Publication Title

Evolutionary Psychological Science

Volume

11

Issue

3

Acceptance Date

2025-06-18

Deposit Date

2025-09-09

Embargo Period

2026-06-27

Keywords

Autism, Autism Spectrum Quotient, Face processing, Facial Symmetry, Facial attractiveness, Sexual dimorphism

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

First Page

221

Last Page

231

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This item is under embargo until 27 June 2026

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