Department of Anthropology

Penn State University

David A. Puts

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Office: 218 Carpenter Building
Telephone: (814) 867-0453 Fax: (814) 863-1474
Email: dap27@psu.edu
Curriculum Vitae
 
Dr. Puts studies animal behavior,
informally
Dr. Puts studies animal behavior, informally.

Click here to go to Puts Lab

EDUCATION:

  • B.A., Kenyon College, 1995
  • M.A., University of Pittsburgh, 1998
  • Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, 2004

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AND INTERESTS:

Dr. Puts studies the neuroendocrine and evolutionary bases of human behavior, with special focus on human sexuality and sex differences. Research topics include:

  • How sex hormones affect psychology, behavior, and anatomy: prenatal, pubertal and adult effects of androgens; effects of menstrual cycle-related changes in ovarian hormones.
  • Sexual selection and the evolution of sexual dimorphism, including the evolution sex differences in voices, faces, bodies, brains, and behavior.  
  • Other research interests:  Developmental and evolutionary causes of differences in sexual orientation, evolutionary basis of female orgasm.

COURSES TAUGHT:

  • ANTH 216 Sex and Evolution
  • ANTH 497A Evolution of Human Mating
  • ANTH 517 Human Evolutionary Biology

SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS:

  • Burriss, R. P., Welling, L. L. M., Puts, D. A.  (in press).  Mate-preference drives mate-choice:  Men's self-rated masculinity predicts their female partner's preference for male facial masculinity.  Personality and Individual Differences.
  • Puts, D. A., Apicella, C. L., and Cardenas, R. A.  (2011).  Masculine voices are honest signals of men’s threat potential in foraging and industrial societies.  Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.  DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2011.0829
  • Puts, D. A., Welling, L. L. M., Burriss, R. P., and Dawood, K.  (2011).  Men’s masculinity and attractiveness predict their female partners’ reported orgasm frequency and timing.  Evolution and Human Behavior.  DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2011.03.003
  • Burriss, R. P., Roberts, S. C., Welling, L. L. M., Puts, D. A., and Little, A. C.  (2011).  Heterosexual romantic couples mate assortatively for facial symmetry, but not masculinity.  Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 37 (5): 601-613.  DOI: 10.1177/0146167211399584
  • Burriss, R. P., Welling, L. L. M., Puts, D. A.  (2011).  Men's attractiveness predicts their preference for female facial femininity when judging for short-term, but not long-term, partners.  Personality and Individual Differences 50 (5): 542-546.  DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2010.11.022
  • Welling, L. L. M., Burriss, R. P., and Puts, D. A.  (2011).  Mate retention behavior modulates men’s preferences for self-resemblance in infant faces.  Evolution and Human Behavior 32 (2): 118-126.  DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.11.001.
  • Hodges-Simeon, C. R., Gaulin, S. J. C., and Puts, D. A.  (2011).  Voice correlates of mating success in men: Examining “contests” vs. “mate choice” modes of sexual selection.  Archives of Sexual Behavior 40 (3): 551-557.  DOI: 10.1007/s10508-010-9625-0.
  • Puts, D. A., Barndt, J. L., Welling, L. L. M., Dawood, K., and Burriss, R. P.  (2011).  Intrasexual competition among women: Vocal femininity affects perceptions of attractiveness and flirtatiousness.  Personality and Individual Differences 50 (1): 111-115. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2010.09.011.
  • Hodges-Simeon, C. R., Gaulin, S. J. C., and Puts, D. A.  (2010).  Different vocal parameters predict perceptions of dominance and attractiveness.  Human Nature 21 (4): 406-427. DOI: 10.1007/s12110-010-9101-5.
  • Puts, D. A., Cardenas, R. A., Bailey, D. H., Burriss, R.P., Jordan, C. L., and Breedlove, S. M.  (2010).  Salivary testosterone does not predict mental rotation performance in men or women.  Hormones and Behavior 58: 282-289.  DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.03.005.
  • Wolff, S. and Puts, D. A.  (2010).  Vocal masculinity is a robust dominance signal in men.  Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.  DOI: 10.1007/s00265-010-0981-5.
  • Hodges-Simeon, C. R., Gaulin, S. J. C., and Puts, D. A.  (2010).  Voice correlates of mating success in men: Examining “contests” vs. “mate choice” modes of sexual selection.  Archives of Sexual Behavior.  DOI: 10.1007/s10508-010-9625-0
  • Puts, D. A. (2010).  Beauty and the beast: Mechanisms of sexual selection in humans. Evolution and Human Behavior 31: 157-175.  DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.02.005
  • Grimbos, T., Dawood, K., Burris, R. P., Zucker, K. J., Puts, D. A.  (2010).  Sexual orientation and the 2nd to 4th finger length ratio: A meta-analysis in men and women. Behavioral Neuroscience 124: 278-287.
  • Puts, D. A., Cardenas, R. A., Bailey, D. H., Burriss, R.P., Jordan, C. L., and Breedlove, S. M.  (2010).  Salivary testosterone does not predict mental rotation performance in men or women.  Hormones and Behavior.  DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2010.03.005
  • Puts, D. A. (2009).  The Evolution of Human Sexuality: An Anthropological Perspective, 2nd ed Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt.
  • Zuloaga, D. G., Puts, D. A., Jordan, C. L., and Breedlove, S. M. (2008).  The role of androgen receptors in the masculinization of brain and behavior: What we've learned from the testicular feminization mutation.  Hormones and Behavior, 53: 613-626. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2008.01.013
  • Dawood, K. and Puts, D. A. (2008).  Genetics and development of human sexual orientation. In: LGBTQ America Today, J. C. Hawley, (ed.).  Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, pp. 469-477.
  • Puts, D. A., McDaniel, M. A., Jordan, C. L., and Breedlove, S. M. (2008).  Spatial ability and prenatal androgens: Meta-analyses of congenital adrenal hyperplasia and digit ratio (2D:4D) studies.  Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37 (1): 100-111. 
  • Martin, J., Puts, D. A., and Breedlove, S. M. (2008).  Fluctuating asymmetry in the hands of homosexuals and heterosexuals: Relationships to digit ratios and other sexually dimorphic anatomical traits.  Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37 (1): 119-132.
  • Puts, D. A., Hodges, C. R., Cárdenas, R. A., and Gaulin, S. J. C. (2007).  Men’s voices as dominance signals: Vocal fundamental and formant frequencies influence dominance attributions among men.  Evolution and Human Behavior, 28 (5): 340-344.
  • Puts, D. A., Gaulin, S. J. C., and Breedlove, S. M. (2007).  Sex differences in spatial cognition: Evolution, hormones, and the brain.  In: Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience, S. M. Platek, J. P. Keenan, and T. K. Shackelford (eds.).  Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, pp. 329-379.
  • Puts, D. A., Jordan, C. L., and Breedlove, S. M. (2006).  Defending the brain from estrogen.  Nature Neuroscience, 9 (2): 155-156.
  • Puts, D. A., Gaulin, S. J. C., and Verdolini, K. (2006).  Dominance and the evolution of sexual dimorphism in human voice pitch.  Evolution and Human Behavior, 27 (4): 283-296.
  • Puts, D. A., Jordan, C. L., and Breedlove, S. M. (2006).  O Brother, where art thou? The fraternal birth order effect on male sexual orientation.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 103 (28): 10531-10532.
  • Puts, D. A. and Dawood, K. (2006).  The evolution of orgasm in women: Adaptation or byproduct?  Twin Research and Human Genetics, 9 (3): 467-472.
  • Puts, D. A. (2006).  Cyclic variation in women’s preferences for masculine traits: Potential hormonal causes.  Human Nature, 17 (1): 114-127.
  • Puts, D. A. (2005).  Mating context and menstrual phase affect female preferences for male voice pitch.  Evolution and Human Behavior, 26 (5): 388-397.
  • Puts, D. A., Gaulin, S. J. C., Sporter, R. J., and McBurney, D. H. (2004).  Sex hormones and finger length: What does 2D:4D indicate?  Evolution and Human Behavior, 25 (3): 182-199.

SELECTED ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS: