The relative contribution of profile body shape and weight to judgements of women's physical attractiveness in Britain and Malaysia.
Ninety-six Malaysian and British men rated for physical attractiveness a set of photographs of real women in profile, with known body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Results showed that BMI accounted for the greater amount of variance in all settings. There were also significant differences in preferences for body weight, with low resource, low socioeconomic status (SES) raters preferring a significantly heavier partner than high resource, high SES raters. The disparity with previous findings using line drawings of women in profile was discussed in terms of the weaknesses of line-drawn stimuli.
Swami
Viren
V
Division of Public Health, University of Liverpool, Whelan Building, Quadrangle, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L69 3GB, UK. virenswami@hotmail.com
Tovée
Martin J
MJ
D000328:Adult; D001504:Beauty; D015992:Body Mass Index; D049628:Body Size; D001835:Body Weight; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003380:Courtship; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012928:Social Desirability; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D006113:United Kingdom; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio