Disease threat does not predict attractiveness preference in a United Kingdom dataset: a replication attempt and commentary on White et al., Psych Sci 2013

Background: A study by White et al. found that population disease burden predicted preference for attractive politicians in U.S. congressional elections. Aim: We aimed to replicate this finding using data from the United Kingdom. Method: We regressed rated sexiness of elected members of parliament on health metrics from their constituencies: life expectancy, infant mortality, and self-rated health. Results: : None of the health metrics predicted rated sexiness of members of parliament. Conclusion: Further investigation is needed to verify whether the proposed relationship is important and whether it is moderated by other factors such as cross-cultural differences.