Men With a Terminal Illness Relax Their Criteria for Facial Attractiveness

According to the life history paradigm, in life-threatening conditions, sexual selection criteria are relaxed in order to increase the probability of a last resort reproduction, ultimately contributing to reproductive success. This should be reflected in loosened mating preferences — a process observed in nonhuman animals. Studies investigating this aspect in humans, however, are scarce. This study explored the aesthetic preferences towards facial and nonfacial stimuli in terminally ill patients with heart failure (HF) and their healthy, same-sex peers. The aim was to examine if these two groups of men demonstrate different patterns of aesthetic judgments. Using a 7-point scale, 65 male patients with HF and 143 healthy men evaluated the perceived attractiveness of 15 photographs (five adult male faces, five adult female faces, and five nonfacial pictures). A mixed-design analysis of variance was run to assess group differences in aesthetic preferences. Compared to healthy controls, stimuli. HF patients rated the pictures using significantly higher scores, but this applied only to male and female, but not nonfacial, stimuli. We propose that lower criteria for facial attractiveness in HF patients are linked to relaxation of mate preferences as a result of a life-threatening conditions, and that this process can be an adaptive mating strategy from an ultimate, evolutionary perspective. However, other mechanisms (e.g., seeking social support) may be also responsible for the observed patterns.

Using the Bem and Klein Grid Scores to Predict Health Services Usage by Men

We examined the association between scores on the Bem Sex Roles Inventory (BSRI), Klein Sexual Orientation Grid, and utilization of hospital inpatient services, emergency departments, and outpatient clinic visits in the past 12 months among 53 men (mean age 39 years). The femininity subscale score on the BSRI, ever having had gonorrhea and age were the three variables identified in a multivariate linear regression significantly predicting use of total health services. This supports the hypothesis that sex roles can assist our understanding of men's use of health services.