WAIST-TO-HIP RATIO OR SHOULDERS-TO-HIP RATIO? ANATOMICAL DETERMINANTS OF MALE FIGURE ATTRACTIVENESS IN MATE SELECTION PROCESS

• Authors: Szmajke A.
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Devendra Singh (1995) found that the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) was a significant factor determining a male figure attractiveness. In contrast to the female figure, the attractiveness of which turned out to be associated with the low WHR value (0,7), its male counterpart tended to be judged as more attractive if WHR reached high values (0,9 and 1,0) rather than low ones (0,7 and 0,8). Nevertheless, the way the investigation was carried out by Singh suggested that the result quoted above could have been an artefact. In a laboratory experiment a modified replication of the Singh's study was conducted. The results of the experiment left no doubt that the attractiveness of a male figure was dependent primarily on the shoulders-to-hip ratio (SHR) and not on a WHR value. No matter what weights and WHR values of the judged figures were, in the light of the women's assessments the male figures with clearly broader shoulders than hips appeared to be much more attractive compared with the ones characterized by the closeness of these two sizes. The pattern of the obtained results suggests that it is SHR and not WHR which is a phenotype sign of a men's health, the deciding factor in his attractiveness related to the sexual selection process. Some other data referred to in the discussion also indicate that the role played by WHR in the evaluation of a male/female figure is less important than it was suggested by the results of early Singh's studies.

Keywords

EN

MALE FIGURE'S ATTRACTIVENESS FACTOR

Discipline

• PSYCHOLOGY: PSYCHOLOGY

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk
• Journal: Psychological Studies
• Year: 2004
• Volume: 42
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 107
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Szmajke A.

• A. Szmajke, Uniwersytet Wroclawski, Instytut Psychologii, ul. Dawida 1, 50-527 Wroclaw, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

05PLAAAA0028676