London: While appearances are usually genetically transmitted, a research published by the Royal Society suggests that a girl coming from an unhappy home may grow up to be a less attractive woman, even though she has inherited some of the best features of her parents.
Two studies from a team at St Andrew's University showed women whose parents had separated or had a poor relationship looked more masculine.
Researchers assessed facial features and body shape in 229 women and found those from stable homes appeared more feminine and healthy.
The results may be linked to levels of male sex hormone 'testosterone'.
However, it is unclear if increased testosterone in the offspring of parents who separate is genetic, or caused by stress of an unhappy family life.
"I wonder if all of these things are down to a particular set of hormone changes or genetics. If we can say that part of the reason may be something to do with their hormones, that helps us to understand what is going on and helps us to address that behaviour," BBC quoted study leader Dr Lynda Boothroyd, as saying.
"It could be that children inherit higher testosterone from their parents, which could have caused the problems in their parents relationship. But also our bodies release hormones to cope with stress and that might have a knock on effect," she added.
Researchers took photographs of psychology students who had completed a questionnaire about their family background, and rated the pictures for attractiveness, feminity, and healthiness.
Lynda Boothroyd believed that women whose parents had a good relationship were found to be significantly more attractive and feminine than women whose parents had separated.
On the contrary, women whose parents had stayed together but had a poor relationship were rated the least attractive of the three groups and were also judged to be the least healthy.
In a second study of 87 of the same young women, researchers assessed body mass index, waist-hip ratio, and waist-chest ratio.
The findings revealed that women from broken homes or whose parents had a poor relationship were associated with increased weight around their waists, producing a more masculine figure and an increased body mass index.
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