Face values applied to love game 	

Which of the female and male faces do you find more attractive?

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People's attitudes to relationships could be given away by just the look of their face, it has been claimed - with men and women often looking for the opposite attitudes. Researchers said men generally preferred women they perceive are open to short-term sexual relationships, with women after longer-term matches. Men with big jaws and small eyes were perceived as less committed by women. 

The Universities of Aberdeen and St Andrews worked with Durham University studying 700 people in their 20s.  Heterosexual participants were shown pairs of photographs of men and women in their early 20s. Participants were asked to choose the face that they felt would be more open to short-term sexual relationships, one-night stands and the idea of sex without love. 

They were also asked which face they thought was the most attractive for a long or short-term relationship, who was more masculine or feminine, and who they thought was generally attractive. 

These judgments were compared with the actual attitudes to relationships of the subjects in the photographs determined through a questionnaire. Researchers said that the results determined many could accurately judge from photographs who would be more interested in a short-term sexual relationship or a long-term relationship. 

Women who were open to short-term sexual relationships were usually seen by others as more attractive. The men who were more open to casual sex were generally perceived as more masculine-looking, with squarer jaws, larger noses and smaller eyes. 

Dr Lynda Boothroyd, of Durham University's psychology department, said: "This study shows we can make these kind of instinctive judgements for sex. We have a subconscious - not always right but reasonable – guide. Yet preferences for different types of face were actually quite strong. This shows that these initial impressions may be part of how we assess potential mates - or potential rivals - when we first meet them.”

Professor David Perrett, a psychologist from the Perception Lab at the University of St Andrews, added: "While faces do hold clues to sexual attitudes, men should not presume any kind of relationship is wanted from appearance alone since women's choice is what matters. Indeed most women found promiscuous-looking guys unattractive for both short and long-term relationships."