Bernhard Fink

Bernhard Fink (* 1973 in Möding) is an Austrian human biologist, entrepreneur and men's rights activist.

Life

Fink studied biology, anthropology and psychology at the University of Vienna from 1991 to 2001, where he received his doctorate in 2003. His scientific activities took him to different faculties in Göttingen and Vienna, first from 2002 to 2005 at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Urban Ethology in Vienna and from 2005 to 2007 as a post-doc at the Institute of Zoology and Anthropology at the University of Göttingen. From 2008 to 2013 he led an Emmy Noether research group in Göttingen and was a Heisenberg Fellow there from 2013. Most recently, he worked at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg.

Fink became known in particular for his popular science contributions on television. In addition, he has worked as a consultant for various business enterprises, especially in the beauty industry.

Fink is the author of numerous specialist articles, some of which, however, are highly controversial in terms of method and content. According to his own information, the citation index of his publications (h-index) has a relatively high value of 49 in international comparison. He has published on physical attractiveness of men and women and mate choice, including on the signals of body movements (e.g. dancing). His diverse fields of research also include, in particular, the optical perception of human skin. Statements on population differences in this regard earned Fink the accusation of racism and sexism, which he denies with reference to his own research results.

After the end of his scientific career, Fink founded the consulting firm Biosocial Science Information in Biedermannsdorf in Austria in 2019. Fink is single and childless.

Writings (selection)

Grammer, K., Fink, B., Møller, A.P., & Thornhill, R. (2003). Darwinian Aesthetics: Sexual Selection and the Biology of Beauty. Biological Reviews, 78(3), 385-407.
Trivers, R., Fink, B., Russell, M., McCarty, K., James, B., & Palestis, B.P. (2014). Lower body symmetry and running performance in elite Jamaican track and field athletes. PLOS ONE, 9(11), e113106.
Fink, B., Weege, B., Manning, J.T., & Trivers, R. (2014). Body symmetry and physical strength in human males. American Journal of Human Biology, 26(5), 697-700.
Fink, B., Klappauf, D., Brewer, G., & Shackelford, T.K. (2014). Female physical characteristics and intra-sexual competition in women. Personality and Individual Differences, 58, 138-141.
Cappelle, T., & Fink, B. (2013). Changes in women's attractiveness perception of masculine men's dances across the ovulatory cycle. Evolutionary Psychology, 11(5), 965-972.
Röder, S., Fink, B., & Jones, B.C. (2013). Facial, olfactory, and vocal cues to female reproductive value. Evolutionary Psychology, 11(2), 392-404.
Neave, N., McCarty, K., Freynik, J., Caplan, N., Hönekopp, J., & Fink, B. (2011). Male dance moves that catch a woman's eye. Biology Letters, 7, 221-224.
VS Johnston, R Hagel, M Franklin, B Fink, K Grammer (2001). Male facial attractiveness: Evidence for hormone-mediated adaptive design. Evolution and Human Behavior 22(4), 251-267.