David Puts

Professional Bio

Dr. Puts is a Professor of Anthropology and Psychology and Associate Director for Graduate Education at the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and is co-funded by the Social Science Research Institute and the Huck. Before coming to Penn State in 2007, Dr. Puts was a postdoctoral fellow in the Neuroscience Program at Michigan State University. He is President-Elect of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society and serves as Senior Editor of the journal Human Nature, Editor of Evolution and Human Behavior, Co-Editor of Evolutionary Psychology, and Associate Editor of Archives of Sexual Behavior.

Dr. Puts directs the Behavioral Endocrinology and Evolution Lab, which uses the tools of evolutionary biology and behavioral endocrinology to study the evolution and physiological basis of human behavior and psychology. These complementary lines of research thus address both evolution and development. Research in the lab is question-driven and employs a wide variety of methods, including endocrinology in both clinical and non-clinical populations, cross-species and cross-cultural comparison, experimental psychology, anatomical measurement, vocal acoustics, genetics, and genomics. Topics studied focus especially on sexual selection in humans, nonhuman primates, and other mammals, as well as the evolutionary endocrinology of social behavior, particularly human mating and status competition; sexuality; and sex differences.

Notable Publications

Aung, T., Hill, A, Hlay, J., Hess, C., Hess, M., Johnson, J., Doll, L., Carlson, S.M., Magdinec, C., González-Santoyo, I., Walker, R., Bailey, D., Arnocky, S., Kamble, S., Vardy, T., Kyritsis, T., Atkinson, Q., Jones, B., Koster, J., Burns, J., Palomo-Vélez, G., Tybur, J., Muñoz-Reyes, J., Choy, B.K.C., Li, N., Langenhoff, A., Klar, V., Batres, C., Bascheck, P., Schild, C., Penke, L., Pazhoohi, F., Kemirembe, K., Valentova, J.V., Varella, M.A.C., Borras-Guevara, M., Hodges-Simeon, C., Ernst, M., Garr, C., Chen, B., and Puts, D. (2024). Effects of voice pitch on social perceptions vary with relational mobility and homicide rate. Psychological Science. 35(3): 250-262. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976231222288

Puts, D., Carrier, D., and Rogers, A.R. (2023). Contest competition for mates and the evolution of human males. In: The Oxford Handbook of Human Mating, Buss, D.M., ed. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp.317-377. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197536438.013.26

Swift-Gallant, A., Aung, T., Rosenfield, K., Dawood, K., and Puts, D. (2023). Organizational effects of gonadal hormones on human sexual orientation. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology. 9(4): 344-370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-023-00226-x

Aung, T., Hill, A.K., Pfefferle, D., McLester, E., Fuller, J., Lawrence, J.M., Garcia-Nisa, I., Kendal, R.L., Petersdorf, M., Higham, J.P., Galat, G., Lameira, A.R., Apicella, C.L., Barelli, C., Glenn, M.E., Ramos-Fernandez, G., Puts, D.A. (2023). Group size and mating system predict sex differences in vocal fundamental frequency in anthropoid primates. Nature Communications. 14: 4069. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-39535-w

Shirazi, T.N., Self, H., Dawood, K., Welling, L.L.M., Cárdenas, R.A., Rosenfield, K., Bailey, J.M., Balasubramanian, R., Delaney, A., Breedlove, S.M., and Puts, D.A. (2022). Low perinatal androgens predict recalled childhood gender nonconformity in men. Psychological Science. 33(3): 343-353. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211036075

Hughes, S.M. and Puts, D.A. (2021). Vocal modulation in human mating and competition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0388

Shirazi, T.N., Self, H., Dawood, K., Welling, L.L.M., Cárdenas, R.A., Rosenfield, K., Bailey, J.M., Balasubramanian, R., Delaney, A., Breedlove, S.M., and Puts, D.A. (2021). Evidence that perinatal ovarian hormones promote women’s sexual attraction to men. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 134: 105431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105431

Shirazi, T.N., Levenberg, K., Cunningham, H., Self, H., Dawood, K., Cárdenas, R.A., Ortiz, T., Carré, J., Breedlove, S.M., and Puts, D.A. (2021). Relationships between ovarian hormone concentrations and mental rotations performance in naturally-cycling women. Hormones and Behavior. 127: 104886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104886

Shirazi, T.N., Self, H., Dawood, K., Cárdenas, R.A., Welling, L.L.M., Rosenfield, K., Ortiz, T., Carré, J., Balasubramanian, R., Delaney, A., Crowley, W., Breedlove, S.M., and Puts, D.A. (2020). Pubertal timing predicts adult psychosexuality: Evidence from typically developing adults and adults with isolated GnRH deficiency. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 119: 104733. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2020.104733

Shirazi, T.N., Self, H., Cantor, J.M., Dawood, K., Cárdenas, R.A., Rosenfield, K., Ortiz, T., Carré, J., McDaniel, M.A., Blanchard, R.M., Balasubramanian, R., Delaney, A., Crowley, W., Breedlove, S.M., and Puts, D.A. (2020). Timing of peri-pubertal steroid exposure predicts visuospatial performance in men: Evidence from three samples. Hormones and Behavior. 121: 104712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104712

Shirazi, T.N., Rosenfield, K., Cárdenas, R.A., Breedlove, S.M., and Puts, D.A. (2020). No evidence that hormonal contraceptive use or circulating sex steroids predict complex emotion recognition. Hormones and Behavior 119: 104647. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104647

Aung, T. and Puts, D.A. (2020). Voice pitch: A window into the communication of social power. Current Opinion in Psychology. 33: 154-161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.07.028

Rosenfield, K., Sorokowska, A., Sorokowski, P., and Puts, D. (2020). Sexual selection for low male voice pitch among Amazonian forager-horticulturists. Evolution and Human Behavior. 41: 3-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2019.07.002

Shirazi, T.N., Self, H., Dawood, K., Rosenfield, K.A., Penke, L., Carré, J., Ortiz, T., and Puts, D.A. (2019). Hormonal predictors of women’s sexual motivation. Evolution and Human Behavior. 40(3): 336-344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2019.02.002

Jünger, J., Motta-Mena, N.V., Cárdenas, R., Bailey, D., Rosenfield, K.A., Schild, C., Penke, L., and Puts, D.A. (2018). Do women’s preferences for masculine voices shift across the ovulatory cycle? Hormones and Behavior. 106: 122-134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2018.10.008

Shirazi, T., Bossio, J., Puts, D.A., and Chivers, M. (2018). Menstrual cycle phase predicts women’s hormonal responses to sexual stimuli. Hormones and Behavior. 103: 45-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2018.05.023

Puts, D.A., Hill, A.K., Bailey, D.H., Walker, R.S., Rendall, D., Wheatley, J.R., Welling, L.L.M., Dawood, K., Cárdenas, R.A., Jablonski, N.G., Shriver, M.D., Weiss, D., Lameira, A.R., Apicella, C.L., Owren, M.J., Barelli, C., Glenn, M.E., and Ramos-Fernandez, G. (2016). Sexual selection on male vocal fundamental frequency in humans and other anthropoids. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 283: 20152830. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2015.2830

Puts, D.A. (2016). Human sexual selection. Current Opinion in Psychology. 7: 28-32. http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.07.011

Gangestad, S.W., Haselton, M.G., Welling, L.L.M., Gildersleeve, K., Pillsworth, E.G., Burriss, R.P., Larson, C.M., and Puts, D.A. (2016). How valid are assessments of conception probability in ovulatory cycle research? Evaluations, recommendations, and theoretical implications. Evolution and Human Behavior. 37: 85-96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2015.09.001