Christopher Watkins (PhD) Individual differences in dominance perceptions

I completed my PhD in December 2012 and started a permanent lectureship in Psychology at the University of Abertay in September 2012. My research investigated individual differences in dominance perceptions and mate choice. For example, a series of papers I published in Behavioral Ecology showed that differences in how men judge other men's dominance are linked to differences in their own dominance. Other work linked individual differences in mate preferences to environmental factors, such as the sex ratio of the local population and parasite stress. When I left the Face Research Lab, I had published nine first-authored papers.

Abertay Webpage

Scientific Journal Articles

    In Press

  1. BC Jones, DR Feinberg, CD Watkins, CL Fincher, AC Little & LM DeBruine (in press). Pathogen disgust predicts women’s preferences for masculinity in men’s voices, faces, and bodies. Behavioral Ecology . doi:10.1093/beheco/ars173 [abstract»»]
  2. 2013

  3. BC Jones, CL Fincher, LLM Welling, AC Little, DR Feinberg, CD Watkins, EAS Al-Dujaili & LM DeBruine (2013). Salivary cortisol and pathogen disgust predict men’s preferences for feminine shape cues in women’s faces. Biological Psychology, 92(2): 233-240. [abstract»»]
  4. (545 kB) RM Tinlin, CD Watkins, LLM Welling, LM DeBruine, EAS Al-Dujaili & BC Jones (2013). Perceived facial adiposity conveys information about women’s health. British Journal of Psychology, 104(2): 235-248. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.2012.02117.x [abstract»»]
  5. 2012

  6. (259 kB) M Quist, CD Watkins, FG Smith, AC Little, LM DeBruine & BC Jones (2012). Sociosexuality predicts women's preferences for symmetry in men's faces. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41(6): 1415-1421. doi:10.1007/s10508-011-9848-8 [abstract»»]
  7. (602 kB) CD Watkins, BC Jones, AC Little, LM DeBruine & DR Feinberg (2012). Cues to the sex ratio of the local population influence women’s preferences for facial symmetry. Animal Behaviour, 83(2): 545-553. doi:doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.12.002 [abstract»»]
  8. (229 kB) CD Watkins, M Quist, FG Smith, LM DeBruine & BC Jones (2012). Individual differences in women’s perceptions of other women’s dominance. European Journal of Personality, 26(1): 79-86. doi:10.1002/per.837 [abstract»»]
  9. (228 kB) CD Watkins, LM DeBruine, AC Little, DR Feinberg & BC Jones (2012). Priming concerns about pathogen threat versus resource scarcity: Dissociable effects on women’s perceptions of men’s attractiveness and dominance. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 66(12): 1549-1556. [abstract»»]
  10. CD Watkins & BC Jones (2012). Priming men with different contest outcomes modulates their dominance perceptions. Behavioral Ecology, 23(3): 539-543. doi:10.1093/beheco/arr221 [abstract»»]
  11. CD Watkins (2012). Reproductive ambition predicts partnered, but not unpartnered, women’s preferences for masculine men. British Journal of Psychology, 103(3): 317-329. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.2011.02076.x [abstract»»]
  12. (386 kB) CD Watkins, LM DeBruine, AC Little & BC Jones (2012). Social support influences preferences for feminine facial cues in potential social partners. Experimental Psychology, 59(6): 340-347. [abstract»»]
  13. 2011

  14. (615 kB) LM DeBruine, BC Jones, CD Watkins, SC Roberts, AC Little, FG Smith & M Quist (2011). Opposite-sex siblings decrease attraction, but not prosocial attributions, to self-resembling opposite-sex faces. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(28): 11710-11714. doi:10.1073/pnas.1105919108 [abstract»»]
  15. (126 kB) PJ Fraccaro, BC Jones, J Vukovic, FG Smith, CD Watkins, DR Feinberg, AC Little & LM DeBruine (2011). Experimental evidence that women speak in a higher voice pitch to men they find attractive. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 9(1): 57-67. doi:10.1556/JEP.9.2011.33.1 [abstract»»]
  16. (175 kB) BC Jones, AC Little, CD Watkins, LLM Welling & LM DeBruine (2011). Reported sexual desire predicts men's preferences for sexually dimorphic cues in women’s faces. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40(6): 1281-1285. doi:10.1007/s10508-010-9721-1 [abstract»»]
  17. (478 kB) BC Jones, LM DeBruine, AC Little, CD Watkins & DR Feinberg (2011). ‘Eavesdropping’ and perceived male dominance rank in humans. Animal Behaviour, 81(6): 1203-1208. [abstract»»]
  18. (419 kB) M Quist, CD Watkins, FG Smith, LM DeBruine & BC Jones (2011). Facial masculinity is a cue to women’s dominance. Personality and Individual Differences, 50: 1089-1093. [abstract»»]
  19. CD Watkins (2011). Dominant themes. The Psychologist, 24(7): 550-551. [abstract»»]
  20. (233 kB) CD Watkins, LM DeBruine, FG Smith, BC Jones, J Vukovic & PJ Fraccaro (2011). Like father, like self: Emotional closeness to father predicts women's preferences for self-resemblance in opposite-sex faces. Evolution and Human Behavior, 32(1): 70-75. doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.09.001 [abstract»»]
  21. CD Watkins, LM DeBruine, AC Little, DR Feinberg, PJ Fraccaro & BC Jones (2011). Perceptions of partner femininity predict individual differences in men's sensitivity to facial cues of male dominance. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 9(1): 69-82. doi:10.1556/JEP.9.2011.10.1 [abstract»»]
  22. 2010

  23. (148 kB) PJ Fraccaro, DR Feinberg, LM DeBruine, AC Little, CD Watkins & BC Jones (2010). Correlated male preferences for femininity in female faces and voices. Evolutionary Psychology, 8(3): 447-461. [abstract»»]
  24. (454 kB) CD Watkins, BC Jones & LM DeBruine (2010). Individual differences in dominance perception: Dominant men are less sensitive to facial cues of male dominance. Personality and Individual Differences, 49(8): 967-971. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2010.08.006 [abstract»»]
  25. (136 kB) CD Watkins, PJ Fraccaro, FG Smith, J Vukovic, DR Feinberg, LM DeBruine & BC Jones (2010). Taller men are less sensitive to cues of dominance in other men. Behavioral Ecology, 21(5): 943-947. doi:10.1093/beheco/arq091 [abstract»»]

Conference Presentations

    2012

  1. CD Watkins & BC Jones (2012). Priming men with different contest outcomes modulates their dominance perceptions. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Albuquerque, New Mexico. June 2012.
  2. 2011

  3. LM DeBruine, BC Jones, CD Watkins, SC Roberts, AC Little, FG Smith & M Quist (2011). Domain specificity in the effects of opposite-sex siblings on attitudes to cues of kinship. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Montpellier, France. June 2011.
  4. M Quist, CD Watkins, FG Smith, LM DeBruine & BC Jones (2011). Facial masculinity is a cue to women's dominance. Evolutionary and Biological Approaches to Behaviour Research Group in University of Abertay, Dundee. May 2011. [abstract»»]
  5. CD Watkins, BC Jones, AC Little, LM DeBruine & DR Feinberg (2011). Cues to the sex ratio of the local population influence women’s preferences for facial symmetry. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Montpellier, France. June 2011.
  6. CD Watkins, M Quist, FG Smith, LM DeBruine & BC Jones (2011). Individual differences in women's perceptions of other women's dominance. Evolutionary and Biological Approaches to Behaviour Research Group in University of Abertay, Dundee. May 2011. [abstract»»]

Posters

    2013

  1. CL Fincher, LM DeBruine, CD Watkins, AC Little & BC Jones (2013). Experimental tests of mate preferences predict real-world mate choice. European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association in Amsterdam, Netherlands. March 2013. [abstract»»]
  2. 2012

  3. (249 kB) LM DeBruine, BC Jones, CD Watkins, SC Roberts, AC Little, FG Smith & M Quist (2012). Opposite-sex siblings decrease attraction, but not prosocial attributions, to self-resembling opposite-sex faces. European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association Conference in Durham, UK. March 2012. [abstract»»]
  4. LM DeBruine, CL Fincher, CD Watkins, AC Little & BC Jones (2012). Preference versus Choice: Do face preferences predict actual partner choice? Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Albuquerque, New Mexico. June 2012.
  5. (591 kB) RM Tinlin, CD Watkins, LLM Welling, LM DeBruine, EAS Al-Dujaili & BC Jones (2012). Perceived facial adiposity conveys information about women's health. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Albuquerque, New Mexico. June 2012. [abstract»»]
  6. 2011

  7. (603 kB) M Quist, CD Watkins, FG Smith, LM DeBruine & BC Jones (2011). Facial masculinity is a cue to women’s dominance. European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association Conference in Giessen, Germany. March 2011.
  8. M Quist, CD Watkins, FG Smith, LM DeBruine & BC Jones (2011). Facial masculinity is a cue to women’s dominance. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Montpellier, France. June 2011.
  9. (867 kB) CD Watkins, LM DeBruine, FG Smith, BC Jones, J Vukovic & PJ Fraccaro (2011). Like Father, Like Self. European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association Conference in Giessen, Germany. March 2011. [abstract»»]
  10. 2010

  11. PJ Fraccaro, BC Jones, J Vukovic, FG Smith, CD Watkins, DR Feinberg, AC Little & LM DeBruine (2010). Women's voice pitch changes when viewing attractive men. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Eugene, Oregon. June 2010. [abstract»»]
  12. CD Watkins, PJ Fraccaro, FG Smith, J Vukovic, DR Feinberg, LM DeBruine & BC Jones (2010). Are taller men less sensitive to cues of dominance in other men? European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association Conference in Wroclaw, Poland. March 2010.
  13. CD Watkins, LM DeBruine, FG Smith, BC Jones, J Vukovic & PJ Fraccaro (2010). Like father, like self: Emotional closeness to father, but not mother, predicts women's preferences for self-resemblance in opposite-sex, but not same-sex, faces. Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Eugene, Oregon. June 2010. [abstract»»]

Disclaimer: The information found and the views expressed in these homepages are not the responsibility of the University of Aberdeen nor do they reflect institutional policy.