Menschen mit hohen autistischen Merkmalen unterscheiden sich von ihren neurotypischen Kollegen in dem, was sie in menschlichen Gesichtern attraktiv finden. Sie neigen dazu, eine stärkere Präferenz für männliche Merkmale zu zeigen, insbesondere bei weiblichen Gesichtern. Für diejenigen mit hohen autistischen Eigenschaften hängt die Anziehungskraft möglicherweise nicht von Mainstream -Schönheitsidealen ab.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/evolutionary-social-cognition/202508/do-autistic-traits-influence-what-we-find-attractive
9 Kommentare
I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-025-00438-2
From the linked article:
Do Autistic Traits Influence What We Find Attractive?
New research explores how autistic traits shape preferences for gendered facial features.
In a new study published in Evolutionary Psychological Science, my colleagues and I explored whether **individuals with high autistic traits differ from their neurotypical peers in what they find attractive in human faces**—especially in relation to facial sexual dimorphism, or the extent to which a face appears stereotypically masculine or feminine.
**More autistic traits were linked to a stronger preference for masculine features, especially in female faces.**
This preference wasn’t absolute, but the trend was clear: When given unlimited time to evaluate faces, **individuals higher in autistic traits leaned more toward masculine facial structures than their low-trait counterparts.**
At a societal level, these findings suggest we need to broaden how we think about attraction. What counts as „attractive“ is neither universal nor static. It’s influenced by cognition, identity, and the unique ways people experience the social world.
**For those with high autistic traits, attraction may not hinge on mainstream ideals of beauty**, but rather on subtle cues that resonate with their own internal experiences—whether it’s comfort, familiarity, or identity reflection.
As an autistic man with high IQ, it’s not really „masculine features“, it’s more gender-neutrality that’s attractive to me. Like, sure, people on both end can be pretty, but nothing is more attractive than people for whom you can’t tell their gender at first glance, no matter what their actual gender is.
I can say that I definitely disagree with mainstream ideas of beauty. I don’t know that I find masculinity more attractive, but I do love authenticity.
Interesting, I have autistic traits and with it higher intelligence which limits my closer circle to the same engineering and mathematicians . I have noticed I definitely favor more masculine face in all past partners and general neutral appearances with a noticable lean towards trans and its community.
Not sure if it’s completely autistic related but everything mainstream is the antithesis of what I look for in someone. Those who are unique are much more interesting.
Now I am doubting my autism. Trans lesbian who is very unattracted to masculine faces on any gender.
This is your reminder than autism is a spectrum, people are individuals, and trends do not define every member of a group.
Even if this research is replicated and extended, there will still be people with autism who do not follow the trend.
By that logic, autistic women should be attracted to feminine features in men?
handsome butch ladies everyone give it up for handsome butch ladies
I’m autistic, and I can’t speak on what the specific difference is because I’m bad at recognizing facial structure in general, but there is definitely a consistent difference between which women I find attractive compared to my NT friends, who usually agree with each other more than with me.
Which I’m quite happy with, honestly. More manly chicks for me, or whatever it is.