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Body attractiveness: Difference between revisions
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However, one issue with this study (noted by the authors) that may have inflated the amount of variance attributable to bodily attractiveness (among the whole sample) was that the study included male 3D models with extremely wide hips and narrow shoulders. While it is true that many males in industrialized societies are obese (as also noted by the study authors), the male model used in this study that represented the lowest attractiveness male body type had a strong gynoid (female sex-typical) pattern of fat storage and very broad hip bones and narrow clavicles, which is unusual for men (apart from men with chromosomal defects such as Kleinfelter's syndrome), and likely even more unattractive than an obese man with typical hip and shoulder dimensions would be. | However, one issue with this study (noted by the authors) that may have inflated the amount of variance attributable to bodily attractiveness (among the whole sample) was that the study included male 3D models with extremely wide hips and narrow shoulders. While it is true that many males in industrialized societies are obese (as also noted by the study authors), the male model used in this study that represented the lowest attractiveness male body type had a strong gynoid (female sex-typical) pattern of fat storage and very broad hip bones and narrow clavicles, which is unusual for men (apart from men with chromosomal defects such as Kleinfelter's syndrome), and likely even more unattractive than an obese man with typical hip and shoulder dimensions would be. | ||
Still, this finding supports the claim that waist-to-shoulder, waist-to-chest, and waist-to-hip ratios capture the bulk of male bodily attractiveness. This strong correlation between the v-shaped body further indicates that this type of body shape promotes judgements of physical strength, following the Sell | Still, this finding supports the claim that waist-to-shoulder, waist-to-chest, and waist-to-hip ratios capture the bulk of male bodily attractiveness. This strong correlation between the v-shaped body further indicates that this type of body shape promotes judgements of physical strength, following the Sell, Lukazweski, and Townsley (2017) study that demonstrated that perceived power highly influences perceptions of body attractiveness, indicating that the gap between perceived and actual strength may be heavily driven by a female preference for aesthetically proportioned male bodies (and not necessarily those with the most sheer bulk) as indicated by the strong influence of the shoulder-to-hip ratio in this study, which is influenced by upper body muscularity, leanness, and a natural frame that is wide in the shoulders and narrow in the hips and waist. This body type may differ from the one associated with maximal brute strength, as a quick glance at heavyweight powerlifters, Olympic lifters in the highest weight class, sumo wrestlers and champion strongmen will indicate. However, these kinds of bodies may be generally more attractive to women than very thin men, as some informal research suggests they are particularly unattractive to women, with women preferring fat men over thin men.<ref>https://bonytobeastly.com/most-attractive-male-body-survey-results/#2-the-most-attractive-degree-of-leanness</ref> This may support the claim that women are determining body attractiveness from perceived strength, as very thin men would be expected to be weak. | ||
Wide clavicles, in particular, represent one sexually dimorphic trait<ref>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22138028/</ref> that could have conceivably been subject to [[Fisherian runaway|Fisherian sexual selection]] throughout humanities evolutionary past. While women generally find this trait attractive in a male partner (and wide clavicles contribute to the width of one's shoulders exclusive of soft tissue, which is associated with greater physical attractiveness)<ref>https://www.unm.edu/~abryan/articles/femalehipratio.pdf</ref>, it seems there is no relationship between clavicle length (concerning the humerus) and throwing ability in men. This lack of a relationship indicates that this trait is primarily ornamental (not serving a direct adaptive function apart from increasing sexual attractiveness to the opposite sex).<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267812769_Clavicle_length_throwing_performance_and_the_reconstruction_of_the_Homo_erectus_shoulder</ref> | Wide clavicles, in particular, represent one sexually dimorphic trait<ref>https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22138028/</ref> that could have conceivably been subject to [[Fisherian runaway|Fisherian sexual selection]] throughout humanities evolutionary past. While women generally find this trait attractive in a male partner (and wide clavicles contribute to the width of one's shoulders exclusive of soft tissue, which is associated with greater physical attractiveness)<ref>https://www.unm.edu/~abryan/articles/femalehipratio.pdf</ref>, it seems there is no relationship between clavicle length (concerning the humerus) and throwing ability in men. This lack of a relationship indicates that this trait is primarily ornamental (not serving a direct adaptive function apart from increasing sexual attractiveness to the opposite sex).<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267812769_Clavicle_length_throwing_performance_and_the_reconstruction_of_the_Homo_erectus_shoulder</ref> | ||
Regarding the more minor traits associated with male bodily attractiveness, it has been demonstrated that a narrow waist is also considered an attractive trait in males. Interestingly, a lower waist-to-hip ratio is attractive in males (like in women), even when controlling for waist size. Thus, proportionately large hips in males are an undesirable trait.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340497679_Preferences_for_Sexually_Dimorphic_Body_Characteristics_Revealed_in_a_Large_Sample_of_Speed_Daters</ref> | Regarding the more minor traits associated with male bodily attractiveness, it has been demonstrated that a narrow waist is also considered an attractive trait in males. Interestingly, a lower waist-to-hip ratio is attractive in males (like in women), even when controlling for waist size. Thus, proportionately large hips in males are an undesirable trait.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340497679_Preferences_for_Sexually_Dimorphic_Body_Characteristics_Revealed_in_a_Large_Sample_of_Speed_Daters</ref> | ||
===Body fat percentage=== | |||
There is a common perception that women are generally attracted to features that indicate leanness in men, such as defined abdominal muscles.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/ekmo9f/women_of_reddit_do_you_find_6_pack_abs_attractive/</ref> In contrast to this, the official research on women's preferences shows that while women do prefer lean men, they typically prefer men in the middle of the healthy range of body fat percentage for men (around 14-17%), which is higher than the typical level of body fat needed for such abdominal definition.<ref>https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/what-is-body-composition</ref> A general rule of thumb among fitness enthusiasts is that 10% body fat is the level around which most men show clear, defined abdominal muscles without flexing or being in flattering lighting<ref>https://www.menshealth.com/uk/building-muscle/a759234/what-body-fat-percentage-should-i-be-to-see-abs/</ref> 10% body fat is rather lean, representing the 3rd percentile for males aged 25-29 in the United States as measured by a DXA scan, and 9th percentile for the caliper method that relies on subcutaneous fat.<ref>https://dqydj.com/body-fat-percentage-comparison-calculator-by-age/</ref> | |||
In contrast to this belief, Brierly et al. (2016) found that Australian women manipulated male bodies to be at around 16% when they were prompted to create the most 'attractive' bodies.<ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303798036_The_Body_and_the_Beautiful_Health_Attractiveness_and_Body_Composition_in_Men%27s_and_Women%27s_Bodies#pfe</ref> | |||
Lei & Perrett replicated this in a sample of British women, finding that they preferred men with body fat percentages of 14.5% and 15% for short & long-term relationships, respectively, a difference that was non-significant. However, this study used less naturalistic 3D morphs than the first.<ref>https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjop.12451</ref> | |||
A survey conducted by the fitness site Bony to Beastly also found that women generally preferred men with a low but not extremely lean body fat % as the most attractive (around 13%).<ref>https://bonytobeastly.com/most-attractive-male-body-survey-results/#2-the-most-attractive-degree-of-leanness</ref> This survey also found that women preferred 'skinny-fat' men, or men with a low level of muscle but a proportionately high percentage of body fat, to very thin men, suggesting that women tend to prefer men with some bulk over skinny men even if that bulk derives from fat. | |||
Also concerning women's preferences in regards to leanness in men, Wang et al. conducted an analysis of whether there was evidence of assortative preference in regards to the body fat percentage of an ideal partner in raters of both sexes. This sample was cross-cultural, and revealed heterogeneity in women's preferences for male body fat percentage, broken down by their race. This also found that most women of all races preferred leaner, but not super lean men, with 14% of women conforming to the rating pattern that evaluated very lean men (10% body fat). The female raters' BMI played little role in these evaluations, unlike what was discovered in prior research. Very few women preferred obese men.<ref>https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/oby.22092#oby22092-bib-0034</ref> An interesting sidenote here is that Asian women displayed the least heterogeneity with their attractiveness ratings, as the majority of them (82%) conformed to the rating pattern that evaluated men with a moderate (around 15%) but healthy level of body fat as the most attractive. | |||
Overall, the evidence suggests that women find men with body fat percentages in the middle of the healthy range to be most attractive, on average. A small, but still fairly large, minority of women prefer leaner men (close to the ideal of defined abs). A much smaller percentage of women claim not to care much about a man's level of body fat, and an even smaller subset appears to actively prefers obese men. | |||
==Relative contribution of face and body to attractiveness== | ==Relative contribution of face and body to attractiveness== | ||