Peer-reviewed article
Attractive Caregiving: Women’s Preference for Men that Care for Children and the Role of Nurturance Motivation and Menstrual Cycle Phase
Peter A. Bos, Hannah Spencer ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examines how women's perceptions of men's attractiveness are influenced by their caregiving behavior toward children. Researchers showed women pictures and vignettes depicting men with children or information about caring behavior, and measured whether this affected attractiveness ratings. The study found that women with high nurturance motivation and desire for children rated men as more attractive when depicted caring for children, and that women's menstrual cycle phase also influenced attractiveness ratings.
Key points
- Women rated men as significantly more attractive when depicted in interaction with a child in picture tasks
- Effect of caregiving on attractiveness was stronger for women with high nurturance motivation
- Women with desire to have children showed enhanced attractiveness ratings for caring men
- Menstrual cycle phase affected overall attractiveness ratings, with increased ratings around ovulation
- Vignette task (text descriptions of caring behavior) did not show main effect of caring behavior on attractiveness
Limitations
This study is about adult mating preferences and attraction, not about child well-being outcomes or the quality of caregiving provided to children. The findings concern how women evaluate potential partners based on perceived caregiving, not the actual welfare of children being cared for.
Abstract
Abstract Another person’s caring abilities, in addition to physical features, may affect the observed attractiveness of that person. Using two newly developed instruments, we tested whether women ( N = 360) judge men as more attractive when they are depicted in interactions with children (picture task) or accompanied by information on caring behavior (vignette task). Furthermore, we tested if such an effect is moderated by the following personal factors: women’s nurturance motivation, having (a desire to have) a child, women’s menstrual cycle phase, and use of oral contraceptives. In the picture task, women rate men as more attractive when they are depicted in interaction with a child, and this effect was enhanced by women who have high nurturance motivation and women who have (a desire to have) a child. Although the vignette task did not show a main effect of caring behavior, there was an effect of the menstrual cycle phase, demonstrating increased overall attractiveness ratings around the time of ovulation. This study confirms that perceived caring abilities in men can influence attractiveness evaluations, but that this effect varies depending on women’s own caring tendencies and desire for children, and that also the menstrual cycle phase can affect evaluations of the opposite sex. These findings add to the increasing literature that attempts to provide a more nuanced understanding of the forces that shape decisions that can form some of the most important relations in human lives.