title: Male physical attractiveness in Britain and Greece: a cross-cultural study.
abstract: The waist-to-chest ratio (WCR), body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) are the major cues to women's ratings of men's bodily attractiveness (J. T. Fan, W. Dai, F. Liu, & J. Wu, 2005; D. M. Maisey, E. L. E. Vale, P. L. Cornelissen, & M. J. Tovée, 1999; V. Swami & M. J. Tovée, 2005b). The authors examined the relative importance of each of these cues cross-culturally in Greece and Britain. Participants were 36 British and 40 Greek women who rated a set of images of real men with known WCR, BMI, and WHR. The results showed that, regardless of the cultural setting, WCR was the primary determinant of men's physical attractiveness to women, with BMI playing a minor role. However, there were also cross-cultural differences: The Greek women showed a stronger preference for a lower WCR and smaller overall body weight than did the British women. The authors considered possible explanations of these findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University College London. virenswami@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Viren
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Swami
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Athena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsiokris
authors.forename: Chrissa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Georgiades
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sangareau
authors.forename: Martin J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Tovée
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Furnham
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001504:Beauty; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D006113:United Kingdom; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio