| Title |
More than just a pretty face? The relationship between immune function and perceived facial attractiveness
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, February 2022
|
| DOI | 10.1098/rspb.2021.2476 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Summer Mengelkoch, Jeff Gassen, Marjorie L. Prokosch, Gary W. Boehm, Sarah E. Hill |
| Abstract |
It has long been hypothesized that attractiveness provides a cue to a target's health and immunocompetence. However, much of the research testing this hypothesis has relied on a small number of indirect proxies of immune function, and the results of this research have been mixed. Here, we build on this past research, examining the relationship between target attractiveness and (i) self-reported health, (ii) in vivo measures of inflammation and white blood cell count/composition, and (iii) in vitro tests of targets' immune function, including (c1) leucocyte proliferation in response to immunological stimulants, (c2) phagocytosis of Escherichia coli bioparticles, (c3) NK cell-mediated lysis of target tumour cells, and (c4) Staphylococcus aureus growth in isolated plasma. Results revealed multiple, sometimes sex-differentiated, relationships between targets' immune function and others' perceptions of their attractiveness. Together, this work suggests complex, often sex-differentiated relationships between immune function, health, and attractiveness. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 147 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 20 | 14% |
| United Kingdom | 5 | 3% |
| Germany | 4 | 3% |
| Switzerland | 3 | 2% |
| Japan | 3 | 2% |
| Spain | 3 | 2% |
| Malaysia | 2 | 1% |
| Italy | 2 | 1% |
| India | 2 | 1% |
| Other | 13 | 9% |
| Unknown | 90 | 61% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 104 | 71% |
| Scientists | 27 | 18% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 11 | 7% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 5 | 3% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 34 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 34 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 7 | 21% |
| Student > Bachelor | 5 | 15% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 4 | 12% |
| Other | 3 | 9% |
| Student > Master | 3 | 9% |
| Other | 1 | 3% |
| Unknown | 11 | 32% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 8 | 24% |
| Psychology | 8 | 24% |
| Environmental Science | 1 | 3% |
| Business, Management and Accounting | 1 | 3% |
| Immunology and Microbiology | 1 | 3% |
| Other | 3 | 9% |
| Unknown | 12 | 35% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 501. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 06 April 2024.
All research outputs
#52,675
of 25,765,370 outputs
Outputs from Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
#114
of 11,428 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#1,853
of 451,648 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
#7
of 133 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,765,370 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 11,428 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 40.7. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 451,648 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 133 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.