Why are male biathletes seen as more attractive than their female counterparts?
Evolutionary history has shaped the way we respond to other people’s appearances, with physical performance and mating preferences playing key roles in sexual selection. In heteronormative relationships, women had an evolved preference for more athletic men, who in past times were better suited for hunting, defending, and providing for their families.
Competitive sport offers a unique setting to analyse this relationship and apply evolutionary logic to studies of facial attractiveness and athletic performance. The latest research from Behavioral Ecology aims to examine the relationship for both sportsmen and women in the multidisciplinary biathlon.
Ultimately male biathletes, who had achieved high career-best scores, were rated as more physically attractive by the opposite sex. Yet the same correlation could not be found for female biathletes. The article explores this relationship further, suggesting that elite male athletes may display visible, attractive cues that reliably reflect their athletic performance.
Image credit: ‘Biathlon competitor’ by skeeze via Pixabay.
