BC Jones, LM DeBruine, AC Little & DR Feinberg (2007). The valence of experience with faces influences generalized preferences. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 5: 119-129.

Abstract:

Although it is well-established that generalized face preferences influence a wide range of social outcomes, little is known about the proximate mechanisms through which such preferences develop. In two experiments we show that preferences for composites of faces that had been seen paired with an aversive auditory stimulus were significantly weaker than preferences for composites of faces that had been seen paired with a relatively neutral auditory stimulus, demonstrating that the valence of participants