title: A cross-cultural investigation of the role of foot size in physical attractiveness.
abstract: Disparate cultural practices suggest that small foot size may contribute to female attractiveness. Two hypotheses potentially explain such a pattern. Sexual dimorphism in foot size may lead observers to view small feet as feminine and large feet as masculine. Alternately, because small female feet index both youth and nulliparity, evolution may have favored a male preference for this attribute in order to maximize returns on male reproductive investment. Whereas the observational hypothesis predicts symmetrical polarizing preferences, with small feet being preferred in women and large feet being preferred in men, the evolutionary hypothesis predicts asymmetrical preferences, with the average phenotype being preferred in men. Using line drawings that varied only in regard to relative foot size, we examined judgments of attractiveness in nine cultures. Small foot size was generally preferred for females, while average foot size was preferred for males. These results provide preliminary support for the hypothesis that humans possess an evolved preference for small feet in females.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1553, USA. dfessler@anthro.ucla.edu
authors.forename: Daniel M T
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Fessler
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nettle
authors.forename: Yalda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Afshar
authors.forename: Isadora de Andrade
authors.initials: Ide A
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bolyanatz
authors.forename: Monique Borgerhoff
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Mulder
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cravalho
authors.forename: Tiara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Delgado
authors.forename: Bozena
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gruzd
authors.forename: Melissa Oliveira
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Correia
authors.forename: Daria
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Khaltourina
authors.forename: Andrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Korotayev
authors.forename: Jocelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marrow
authors.forename: Lucineide Santiago
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.forename: Asta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zbarauskaite
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001504:Beauty; D001824:Body Constitution; D001938:Brazil; D002160:Cambodia; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007492:Iran; D008097:Lithuania; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010219:Papua New Guinea; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013636:Tanzania; D014481:United States