Facial Attractiveness in Men Indicates Poor Semen Quality: Study

Attractive men have poor semen quality, finds a study.

A gorgeous face, charming smile and sculpted body is sure a plus point for every man. But, a new research holds male facial attractiveness can be a negative point. Spanish experts at the University of Valencia observed 50 Caucasian male participants to note the association between facial features and male fertility.

The study used the phenotype-linked fertility hypothesis that suggests male secondary sexual attributes are accurate predictors of reproductive health and male fertilization efficiency.  However, this method gave confounding results in past clinical trials. In the current trial, the scientists wanted to test the reliability of PLFH and also assess if it is possible for people to choose partners who are reproductively healthy irrespective of their gender or ethnicity.

The volunteer's frontal and right-profile shots were taken and they were instructed not to indulge in sexual activity or masturbate for three to five days.  The subjects' semen samples were collected to measure sperm motility and concentration.

The analysis revealed men with masculine and handsome faces had low semen quality contrary to general notion that masculine appearances are indicators of male fertility.

"As increased levels of testosterone have been demonstrated to impair sperm production, this finding may indicate a trade-off between investments in secondary sexual signalling (ie facial masculinity) and fertility," write the authors in the study, reports the Business Standard.

"Interestingly, males estimated the facial images to be more attractive than females, suggesting that males generally overestimate the attractiveness of other men to females. Our results also indicate that humans may be more sensitive to facial attractiveness cues within their own populations," they added, reports the First Post.

More information is available online in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology.