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Body attractiveness: Difference between revisions
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Though BMI and WHR are linearly correlated with each other (that is, there is a trade-off where an increased WHR is associated with higher levels of body fat in women, and thus a higher BMI, which is generally not seen as ideal in a female partner among men) attractiveness of a woman's body is more determined by a lower BMI than WHR (thinness),<ref>https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2002.2133</ref> and most of the contribution of WHR towards evaluations of female bodily attractiveness is explicable by a smooth distribution of body fat in a gynoid shape on the female body (fat being concentrated around the hips and thighs) being associated with higher attractiveness ratings of female bodies by men, strongly implying that both the distribution and amount of this fat (particularly subcutaneous fat, which is generally thicker in women than men), in so far as this fat contributes to an overall smooth and curvaceous appearance in the woman, is more critical in determining female bodily attractiveness than simple ratios like the WHR.<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022519308005031</ref> | Though BMI and WHR are linearly correlated with each other (that is, there is a trade-off where an increased WHR is associated with higher levels of body fat in women, and thus a higher BMI, which is generally not seen as ideal in a female partner among men) attractiveness of a woman's body is more determined by a lower BMI than WHR (thinness),<ref>https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2002.2133</ref> and most of the contribution of WHR towards evaluations of female bodily attractiveness is explicable by a smooth distribution of body fat in a gynoid shape on the female body (fat being concentrated around the hips and thighs) being associated with higher attractiveness ratings of female bodies by men, strongly implying that both the distribution and amount of this fat (particularly subcutaneous fat, which is generally thicker in women than men), in so far as this fat contributes to an overall smooth and curvaceous appearance in the woman, is more critical in determining female bodily attractiveness than simple ratios like the WHR.<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022519308005031</ref> | ||
Besides features like shapely breasts and buttocks, which indicate a mixture of youth and fertility, it seems clear that sheer thinness is a strong predictor of women's body attractiveness, at least in economically developed countries. A 2006 study by Hitsch et al., focusing on dating app usage, found that male online daters ideally preferred women with a BMI of 17. Studies that examine ideal preferences in experimental conditions find similar preferences among men (Wang et al. 2015).<ref>https://incels.wiki/w/Scientific_Blackpill#The_most_attractive_BMI_range_for_men_is_~24.5-27_and_for_women_~17-19_as_it_is_most_youthful</ref> Men and women converged very strongly in terms of the ideal BMI they ascribed to women. | |||
Following this point, Brierly et al. (2016) conducted an experimental study where participants of both sexes were prompted to manipulate the muscle and fat content of a series of 3D composite bodies derived from research participants, and stratified by levels of muscle and body fat mass. | |||
They found that participants chose different levels of body fat when prompted to create 'healthy' versus 'attractive' female bodies, while this effect was non-significant among the participants who were manipulating male stimuli. The most attractive female bodies chosen were 'at very bottom of the physiologically healthy range' indicating a preference for very thin women overall, which the authors ascribed to the effects of media exposure advocating for a 'thin ideal' or conversely or additionally, an evolutionally derived preference for young women. The discrepancy found among the raters between the ideal healthy and attractive female body may suggest that men often make a trade-off between immediate and long-term reproductive potential when evaluating female bodies, with traits correlating with long-term reproductive potential (thinness) being preferred among 'middle-high socioeconomic groups' as well as denizens of 'more developed and urbanized environments'.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303798036_The_Body_and_the_Beautiful_Health_Attractiveness_and_Body_Composition_in_Men%27s_and_Women%27s_Bodies</ref> | |||
Previous research has supported the idea that a low BMI, WHR, and a small waist are all signals of nubility, as they are typically highest in mid-to-late adolescence in women and typically increase in adulthood.<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513819300418</ref> | |||
This may further suggest that preferences for 'thicker' women is associated with a faster life history strategy, as a product of more unstable environments, driving a preference for immediate reproductive benefits (such as greater fat stores which provide the ability to weather environmental shocks during pregnancy), while the latter may suggest a preference for women with perceived longer reproductive windows in environments were long-term pair-bonding is more optimal. However, this may also be confounded by male mate value, as it has been found that men who perceive themselves as more attractive prefer women with a lower volume-to-height index, a measure of overall thinness. This was also suggested by the fact that men who preferred a higher VHI in female bodies were more indifferent to female bodies' WHR (waist-to-hip ratio), suggesting lower standards in regards to female body attractiveness among these men.<ref>https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0052532</ref> | |||
This is the condition dependent mate preferences hypothesis, which suggests that more attractive individuals will tend to prefer partners with corresponding high value phenotypical traits, and this may be a confounding factor in a lot of research that examines individual variance in attractiveness preferences, particularly when it comes to life history theory related partner preferences. | |||
As a note of caution, more recent studies have found there may be a cross-sex mismatch in perceptions when it comes to men's ideal level of thinness. Lei & Perrett utilized a 3D model manipulation design and found that women typically overestimate the level of thinness men prefer in a partner, with moderate to large effect sizes.<ref>https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjop.12451</ref> Talbot & Mahlberg (2021) found evidence for a stronger female ideal for thinness than the level of thinness generally preferred in men. This study also found evidence that participants tend to prefer partners with similar body fat levels to their own, with participants who have higher body fat levels preferring partners with higher body fat levels as well.<ref>https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00050067.2022.2033951</ref> | |||
==Male bodily attractiveness== | ==Male bodily attractiveness== | ||
According to two studies examining women's preferences regarding male body types published by the Royal Society in 2017, it appears that perceived strength is the strongest single indicator of male bodily attractiveness. This single trait has a very high positive correlation (r = 0.8) with women's attractiveness ratings of said male bodies. | According to two studies examining women's preferences regarding male body types published by the Royal Society in 2017, it appears that perceived strength is the strongest single indicator of male bodily attractiveness. This single trait has a very high positive correlation (r = 0.8) with women's attractiveness ratings of said male bodies. | ||