Staff profile

Lynda Boothroyd is a Professor of Psychology at Durham University. Her research focuses on Evolutionary and Cross-Cultural understandings of interpersonal attraction and sexual selection. She has recently focused on body ideals in rural Nicaragua alongside experimental work both in the laboratory and in the field on the impacts of visual experience on body size preferences.

Lynda engages in science communication in relation to her research both on body image and on issues around sex and gender, including BBC short films and articles at The Conversation.

She has a multidisciplinary approach to her research, incorporating perspectives from Evolutionary Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Social Psychology and Biological Anthropology, and has incorporated a mixed-methods component in her current work.

 In addition, she is a trainer for ‘Succeed’– the UK edition of an international preventative body image programme – and has trained students at Durham and Newcastle in being peer leaders on this programme.

Information for potential PhD and postdoc researchers

She is interested in supporting applications for PhDs or postdoctoral fellowships from researchers who want to pursue interdisciplinary projects addressing how sociocultural, psychological and bio-evolutionary factors influence our conceptions of attractiveness, body shape, or gender. She is also interested in supporting projects on body image interventions, particularly from a cross-cultural perspective.

Potential funding streams applicants should consider include the ESRC Nine-DTP stream for PhDs and postdoctoral fellows, the University's doctoral studentships, and the European Research Council's Marie Curie post-doctoral scheme.

• Attraction
• Body size preferences
• Cross-cultural research, especially in subsistence populations
• Cultural drivers of behaviour
• Evolutionary Social and Developmental Psychology
• Facial masculinity
• Gender
• Body image

• 2024: External examiner of doctoral degree - Nottingham Trent University:
• 2021: External examiner of doctoral degree - University of Pretoria:
• 2019: External examiner of doctoral degree - Northumbria University:
• 2018: Elected vice-president of the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association:
• 2017: Keynote speaker - PsyPAG 2017:
• 2012: Conference organiser: EHBEA 2012: European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association

Chapter in book

• Boothroyd, L., & Vukovic, J. (2019). Mate Preferences Across the Lifespan. In L. Welling, & T. Shackelford (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of evolutionary psychology and behavioral endocrinology (143-159). Oxford University Press

Journal Article

• Thornborrow, T., Boothroyd, L., & Tovee, M. (2025). ''Thank God we are like this here'': a qualitative investigation of televisual media influence on women's body image in an ethnically diverse rural Nicaraguan population. Body Image, 52, Article 101817. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101817
• Putnam, S. P., Selec, E., French, B., Gartstein, M. A., Lira Luttges, B., & Partners in the Global Temperament Project. (in press). The Global Temperament Project: Parent-Reported Temperament in Infants, Toddlers and Children from 59 Nations. Developmental Psychology,
• Andres, F. E., Boothroyd, L. G., Thornborrow, T., Chamorro, A. M., Dutra, N. B., Brar, M., Woodward, R., Malik, N., Sawhney, M., & Evans, E. H. (2024). Relationships between media influence, body image and sociocultural appearance ideals in Latin America: A systematic literature review. Body Image, 51, Article 101774. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.101774
• Hanson, L. N., Gott, A., Tomsett, M., Useh, E., Yeadon-Caiger, E., Clay, R., Fan, J., Hui, K., Wang, H., Evans, E. H., Cowie, D., & Boothroyd, L. G. (2024). Examining body appreciation in six countries: The impact of age and sociocultural pressure. PLoS ONE, 19(7), Article e0306913. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306913
• Jucker, J. .-L., Thornborrow, T., Batres, C., Penton-Voak, I. M., Jamieson, M. A., Burt, D. M., Bowie, W. N., Tovée, M. J., & Boothroyd, L. G. (2024). Cultural Predictors of Facial Ethnicity Preference in the Miskitu and Mestizos of Rural Nicaragua. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 55(3), 292-307. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220221241232674
• Andres, F. E., Thornborrow, T., Bowie, W. N., Chamorro, A. M., De la Rosa, G., Evans, E. H., Fontalvo Acuña, L. S., Kolar, D. R., Mebarak, M. R., Tovar Castro, J. C., & Boothroyd, L. G. (2023). Validation of a Latin-American Spanish version of the Body Esteem Scale for Adolescents and Adults (BESAA-LA) in Colombian and Nicaraguan adults. Journal of eating disorders, 11(1), Article 219. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-023-00942-5
• Cross, C. P., Boothroyd, L. G., & Jefferson, C. A. (2023). Agent-based models of the cultural evolution of occupational gender roles. Royal Society Open Science, 10(6), https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.221346
• Kuay, H., Boothroyd, L., Towl, G., Tiffin, P., & Munoz, L. (2022). Callous-Unemotional Traits are Associated With Child-to-Parent Aggression. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 66(15), 1603-1626. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624x211049190
• Thornborrow, T., Evans, E., Tovee, M., & Boothroyd, L. (2022). Sociocultural drivers of body image and eating disorder risk in rural Nicaraguan women. Journal of eating disorders, 10(1), Article 133. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-022-00656-0
• Boothroyd, L. G., & Cross, C. P. (2022). (Super-)cultural clustering explains gender differences too. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 45, Article e156. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0140525x21001539
• Lidborg, L. H., Cross, C. P., & Boothroyd, L. G. (2022). A meta-analysis of the association between male dimorphism and fitness outcomes in humans. eLife, 11, Article e65031. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.65031
• Brooks, K., Bell, J., Boothroyd, L., & Stephen, I. (2021). Editorial: Experimental Approaches to Body Image, Representation and Perception. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.809385
• Boothroyd, L., Jucker, J., Thornborrow, T., Tovee, M., Batres, C., & Penton-Voak, I. (2021). Testing Mate Choice Hypotheses in a Transitional Small Scale Population. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 7(3), 220-244. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-021-00173-5
• Boothroyd, L., Tovée, M., & Evans, E. (2021). Can realistic dolls protect body satisfaction in young girls?. Body Image, 37, 172-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.02.004
• Jacques, K., Evans, E., & Boothroyd, L. (2021). Experimental manipulation of muscularity preferences through visual diet and associative learning. PLoS ONE, 16(8), Article e0255403. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255403
• Boothroyd, L., Jucker, J.-L., Thornborrow, T., Barton, R., Burt, D., Evans, E., Jamieson, M., & Tovee, M. (2020). Television Consumption Drives Perceptions of Female Body Attractiveness in a Population Undergoing Technological Transition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 119(4), 839-860. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000224
• Thornborrow, T., Onwuegbusi, T., Mohamed, S., Boothroyd, L. G., & Tovée, M. J. (2020). Muscles and the Media: A Natural Experiment Across Cultures in Men’s Body Image. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article 495. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00495
• Kant, R. N., Wong-Chung, A., Evans, E. H., Stanton, E. C., & Boothroyd, L. G. (2019). The Impact of a Dissonance-Based Eating Disorders Intervention on Implicit Attitudes to Thinness in Women of Diverse Sexual Orientations. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 2611. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02611
• Thornborrow, T., Jucker, J.-L., Boothroyd, L., & Tovée, M. (2018). Investigating the link between television viewing and men’s preferences for female body size and shape in rural Nicaragua. Evolution and Human Behavior, 39(5), 538-546. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.05.005
• Jucker, J., Thornborrow, T., Beierholm, U., Burt, D., Barton, R., Evans, E., Jamieson, M., & Boothroyd, L. (2017). Nutritional status and the influence of TV consumption on female body size ideals in populations recently exposed to the media. Scientific Reports, 7(1), Article 8438. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-08653-z
• Boothroyd, L. G., & Cross, C. P. (2017). Father absence and gendered traits in sons and daughters. PLoS ONE, 12(7), Article e0179954. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179954
• Kuay, H. S., Tiffin, P. A., Boothroyd, L. G., Towl, G. J., & Centifanti, L. C. (2017). A New Trait-Based Model of Child-to-Parent Aggression. Adolescent Research Review, 2(3), 199-211. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40894-017-0061-4
• Schmitt, D., Alcalay, L., Allik, J., Alves, I., Anderson, C., Angelini, A., Asendorpf, J., Austers, I., Balaguer, I., Baptista, A., Bender, S., Bennett, K., Bianchi, G., Birashk, B., Bleske, A., Boholst, F., Boothroyd, L., Borg Cunen, M., Borja, T., Bos, A., …Zupančič, A. (2017). Narcissism and the Strategic Pursuit of Short-Term Mating: Universal Links across 11 World Regions of the International Sexuality Description Project-2. Psychological Topics, 26(1), 89-137
• Boothroyd, L., Gray, A., Headland, T., Uehara, R., Waynforth, D., Burt, D., & Pound, N. (2017). Male facial appearance and offspring mortality in two traditional societies. PLoS ONE, 12(1), Article e0169181. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0169181
• Boothroyd, L., Jucker, J., Thornborrow, T., Jamieson, M., Burt, D., Barton, R., Evans, E., & Tovée, M. (2016). Television exposure predicts body size ideals in rural Nicaragua. British Journal of Psychology, 107(4), 752-767. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12184
• Boothroyd, L., & Cross, C. (2016). The Impact of Parenthood on Physical Aggression: Evidence from criminal data. Aggressive Behavior, 42(6), 577-584. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21652
• Vukovic, J., Boothroyd, L., Meins, E., & Burt, D. (2015). Concurrent parent–child relationship quality is associated with an imprinting-like effect in children’s facial preferences. Evolution and Human Behavior, 36(4), 331-336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2015.03.004
• Evans, E., Boothroyd, L., Muscariello, E., Stephan, B., Nasti, G., Colantuoni, A., & Siervo, M. (2015). Lower weight loss expectations and healthier eating attitudes in older overweight and obese women attempting weight loss. Clinical Obesity, 5(3), https://doi.org/10.1111/cob.12093
• Boothroyd, L., Meins, E., Vukovic, J., & Burt, D. (2014). Developmental changes in children's facial preferences. Evolution and Human Behavior, 35(5), 376-383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.05.002
• Boothroyd, L. G., & Brewer, G. (2014). Self-Reported Impulsivity, Rather than Sociosexuality, Predicts Women’s Preferences for Masculine Features in Male Faces. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43(5), 983-988. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-013-0204-z
• Mo, J., Cheung, K. W., Gledhill, L. J., Pollet, T. V., Boothroyd, L. G., & Tovée, M. J. (2014). Perceptions of Female Body Size and Shape in China, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. Cross-Cultural Research, 48(1), 78-103. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069397113510272
• Boothroyd, L., Craig, P., Crossman, R., & Perrett, D. (2013). Father absence and age at first birth in a western sample. American Journal of Human Biology, 25(3), 366-369. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.22378
• Scott, I., Clark, A., Boothroyd, L., & Penton-Voak, I. (2013). Do men’s faces really signal heritable immunocompetence?. Behavioral Ecology, 24(3), 579-589. https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/ars092
• Evans, E., Tovee, M., Boothroyd, L., & Drewett, R. (2013). Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating attitudes in 7 to 11-year-old girls: testing a sociocultural model. Body Image, 10(1), 8-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2012.10.001
• Boothroyd, L., Scott, I., Gray, A., Coombes, C., & Pound, N. (2013). Male Facial Masculinity as a Cue to Health Outcomes. Evolutionary Psychology, 11(5), 1044-1058
• Boothroyd, L., Tovée, M., & Pollett, T. (2012). Visual Diet versus Associative Learning as Mechanisms of Change in Body Size Preferences. PLoS ONE, 7(11), Article e48691. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0048691
• Gray, A. W., & Boothroyd, L. G. (2012). Female facial appearance and health. Evolutionary Psychology, 10(1), 66-77
• Boothroyd, L., Cross, C., Gray, A., Coombes, C., & Gregson-Curtis, K. (2011). Perceiving the facial correlates of sociosexuality: Further evidence. Personality and Individual Differences, 50(3), 422-425. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.10.017
• Re, D., Coetzee, V., Xiao, D., Buls, D., Tiddeman, B., Boothroyd, L., & Perrett, D. (2011). Viewing heavy bodies enhances preferences for facial adiposity
• Jones, B., Boothroyd, L., Feinberg, D., & DeBruine, L. (2010). Age at menarche predicts individual differences in women’s preferences for masculinized male voices in adulthood. Personality and Individual Differences, 48(7), 860-863. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.02.007
• Boothroyd, L. G., Lawson, J. F., & Burt, D. M. (2009). Testing immuncompetence explanations of male facial masculinity. Journal of cultural and evolutionary psychology, 7(1), 65-81. https://doi.org/10.1556/jep.7.2009.1.7
• Boothroyd, L., & Perrett, D. (2008). Father absence, parent-daughter relationships and partner preferences. Journal of cultural and evolutionary psychology, 6(3), 187-205. https://doi.org/10.1556/jep.6.2008.3.3
• Pawlowski, B., Boothroyd, L., Perrett, D., & Kluska, S. (2008). Is female attractiveness related to final reproductive success?. Collegium antropologicum, 32(2), 457-460
• Boothroyd, L., Jones, B., Burt, D., DeBruine, L., & Perrett, D. (2008). Facial correlates of sociosexuality. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29(3), 211-218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.12.009
• Boothroyd, L., Jones, B., Burt, D., & Perrett, D. (2007). Partner characteristics associated with masculinity, health and maturity in male faces. Personality and Individual Differences, 43(5), 1161-1173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.03.008
• Wiszewska, A., Pawlowski, B., & Boothroyd, L. (2007). Father-daughter relationship as a moderator of sexual imprinting: a facialmetric study. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28(4), 248-252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.02.006
• Boothroyd, L., & Perrett, D. (2006). Facial and bodily correlates of family background. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 273(1599), 2375-2380. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3579
• DeBruine, L., Jones, B., Little, A., Boothroyd, L., Perrett, D., Penton-Voak, I., Cooper, P., Penke, L., Feinberg, D., & Tiddeman, B. (2006). Correlated preferences for facial masculinity and ideal or actual partner's masculinity. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 273(1592), 1355-1360. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3445
• Law-Smith, M., Perrett, D., Jones, B., Cornwell, R., Moore, F., Feinberg, D., Boothroyd, L., Durrani, S., Stirrat, M., Whiten, S., Pitman, R., & Hillier, S. (2006). Facial appearance is a cue to oestrogen levels in women. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 273(1583), 135-140. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2005.3296
• Jones, B., Little, A., Boothroyd, L., Feinberg, D., Cornwell, R., DeBruine, L., Roberts, S., Penton-Voak, I., Law-Smith, M., Moore, F., Davis, H., & Perrett, D. (2005). Women's physical and psychological condition independently predict their preference for apparent health in faces. Evolution and Human Behavior, 26(6), 451-457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2005.05.001
• Jones, B., Little, A., Boothroyd, L., DeBruine, L., Feinberg, D., Smith, M. L., Cornwell, R., Moore, F., & Perrett, D. (2005). Commitment to relationships and preferences for femininity and apparent health in faces are strongest on days of the menstrual cycle when progesterone level is high. Hormones and Behavior, 48(3), 283-290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2005.03.010
• Boothroyd, L., Jones, B., Burt, D., Cornwell, R., Little, A., Tiddeman, B., & Perrett, D. (2005). Facial masculinity is related to perceived age, but not perceived health. Evolution and Human Behavior, 26(5), 417-431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2005.01.001
• Feinberg, D., Jones, B., DeBruine, L., Moore, F., Law Smith, M., Cornwell, R., Tiddeman, B., Boothroyd, L., & Perrett, D. (2005). The voice and face of woman: one ornament that signals quality?. Evolution and Human Behavior, 26(5), 398-408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2005.04.001
• Jones, B., Perrett, D., Little, A., Boothroyd, L., Cornwell, R., Feinberg, D., Tiddeman, B., Whiten, S., Pitman, R., Hillier, S., Burt, D., Stirrat, M., Smith, M., & Moore, F. (2005). Menstrual cycle, pregnancy and oral contraceptive use alter attraction to apparent health in faces. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 272(1561), 347-354. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2004.2962
• Cornwell, R., Boothroyd, L., Burt, D., Feinberg, D., Jones, B., Little, A., Pitman, R., Whiten, S., & Perrett, D. (2004). Concordant preferences for opposite-sex signals? Human pheromones and facial characteristics. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 271(1539), 635-640. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2003.2649