Page 60 - Demo

Chapter 358To measure facial attractiveness and vocal attractiveness, participants rated 10 opposite-sex pictures and 10 opposite-sex audio fragments on attractiveness and long-term partner suitability. The stimulus set consisted of the stimuli gathered from the 10 opposite-sex participants in the same timeslot. If the number of opposite-sex participants was lower than 10, extra stimuli of participants from another timeslot were added to make sure that the number of trials was the same for all participants. The pictures were presented for 3 s on a computer monitor, while presentation duration of the audio recordings was equivalent to their duration (±20 s). Participants used a Logitech H340 USB Headset to listen to the audio recordings.To measure olfactory attractiveness, we used the t-shirts that participants prepared at home. After arrival, each t-shirt was placed in a glass jar, that was numbered 1–10 (see Roberts et al., 2008). We wrapped all jars in black paper, so that participants could not see the visual features of the t-shirt. In each trial of the experiment, a random number between 1 and 10 appeared on the screen. A researcher, wearing surgical gloves, brought the corresponding jar to the participant and allowed the participant to smell the t-shirt and next rate the attractiveness of the scent (see above). However, there were two important differences compared to the visual and vocal rating task. First, participants could indicate that the scent was not strong enough to answer the question(s) by pressing the 0 keyboard key, to control for samples with extremely low intensity. Second, if the number of opposite-sex participants in a group was lower than 10, the remaining jars would stay empty. So the number of trials between groups and sexes could slightly differ for the olfactory task.Speed-datesIn the speed-date room, men and women were seated 2 by 2 at opposite sides of a table. We made video recordings of both participants during each date, the content of which will not be further discussed in the present paper. Barriers were placed on the table to avoid that participants would interact before the date started. At the start of each date, participants were asked to rotate the barriers in front of them by 90 degrees, so that each table was divided into two “dating booths”. Thereafter, the start of the date was indicated by a ringing bell. After 4 min, the participants were asked to turn the barriers again and indicate a) how attractive they found their partner; b) how attractive they considered them as a long-term mate; c) whether they would be interested in going on another date Tom Roth.indd 58 08-01-2024 10:41