A research carried out by the University of Aberdeen has revealed that women hailing from countries that have lower health records prefer men with masculine facial traits. The findings were published in the Journal Proceedings of the Royal Society on Wednesday.

Dr. Lisa DeBruine, who heads the University Research Lab with Dr. Ben Jones, said, "People used to think beauty was arbitrary and that different cultures have different preferences. However, our research shows that preferences may instead be explained by responses to different environmental factors like a low level of health in the population".

The research was conducted via the internet on 4,500 women from 30 countries in Europe, America, South America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The research was supported by the biological theory that women prefer men with masculine traits because masculinity is considered a sign of genetic health.

Heterosexual women between the ages of 16 and 40 years were shown two images of the same face side by side. One of the pictures was faintly altered to enhance its masculine traits.

It was found that women residing in countries like Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, where standard of health is lower, were more attracted to masculine looking faces than women from countries like Sweden and Belgium, where mortality rates were lower and longevity higher.