Studies of human physique and sexual attractiveness: Sexual preferences of men and women in China

@article{Dixson2007StudiesOH,
  title={Studies of human physique and sexual attractiveness: Sexual preferences of men and women in China},
  author={Barnaby James Wyld Dixson and Alan F. Dixson and Baoguo Li and M J Anderson},
  journal={American Journal of Human Biology},
  year={2007},
  volume={19}
}
Men and women at Northwest University (n = 631), Xi'an, China, were asked to rate the attractiveness of male or female figures manipulated to vary somatotype, waist‐to‐hip ratio (WHR), secondary sexual traits, and other features. In study 1, women rated the average masculine somatotype as most attractive, followed by the mesomorphic (muscular), ectomorphic (slim), and endomorphic (heavily built) somatotypes, in descending order of preference. In study 2, the amount and distribution of masculine… 
View on Wiley
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
115 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
8
Background Citations
32
Methods Citations
3
Results Citations
6

115 Citations

Human Physique and Sexual Attractiveness in Men and Women: A New Zealand–U.S. Comparative Study

TLDR
Results indicate very similar preferences for sexually dimorphic physical traits among men and women of European extraction, living in two culturally and geographically different environments.

Female waist-to-hip ratio, body mass index and sexual attractiveness in China

TLDR
It is shown that the hourglass female figure is rated as attractive in China, and that WHR, rather than BMI, plays a crucial role in such attractiveness judgments.

Sex Differences for Preferences of Shoulder to Hip Ratio in Men and Women: an Eye Tracking Study

Shoulder to hip ratio (SHR) is a sexually dimorphic trait in humans, yet no previous study has investigated the gazing behavior and perceived physical attractiveness of men and women in relation to…

Male preferences for female waist-to-hip ratio and body mass index in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.

TLDR
It is shown that the hourglass female figure is rated as attractive by men living in a remote, indigenous community, and that when controlling for BMI, WHR plays a crucial role in their attractiveness judgments.

Characteristics of physical attractiveness. Shape processing of dressed and naked realistic female bodies varying in WHR and observer perspective in heterosexual men and women: behavioral and electrophysiological experiments

The WHR, reflecting the fat distribution, is a relevant measure of female physical attractiveness and an indicator of female health and reproductive capacity. Previous studies mainly investigated the…

A multivariate analysis of women's mating strategies and sexual selection on men's facial morphology

TLDR
A significant positive association between moral disgust and preferences for masculine faces and bearded faces is found, providing support for parasite-stress theories of sexual selection and mate choice.

Electrophysiological evidence of perceived sexual attractiveness for human female bodies varying in waist-to-hip ratio

TLDR
The results provide the first electrophysiological evidence of specific time periods linked to the processing of a body feature denoting attractiveness and therefore playing a role in mate choice.

African and European perception of African female attractiveness

Cross-cultural consensus for waist–hip ratio and women's attractiveness

Much more than a ratio: multivariate selection on female bodies

TLDR
The results provide the most comprehensive analysis to date of the effect of body shape and fat deposition on female attractiveness, and draw attention to the importance of integration between abdominal measures, including the bust, and the length and girth of limbs.
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 42 REFERENCES

Masculine Somatotype and Hirsuteness as Determinants of Sexual Attractiveness to Women

TLDR
Study 5 showed that presence of trunk hair had a marked, positive effect upon women's ratings of attractiveness for both mesomorphic and endomorphic male figures, consistent with effects of sexual selection upon visual signals that advertise health, physical prowess, age, and underlying endocrine condition in the human male.

Characteristics of male attractiveness for women

Visual cues to female physical attractiveness

TLDR
Evidence is presented that weight scaled for height (the body mass index (BMI) is the primary determinant of sexual attractiveness rather than WHR and how visual cues, such as the perimeter–area ratio (PAR), can provide an accurate and reliable index of an individual's BMI.

Waist-to-hip ratio and female attractiveness. Evidence from photographic stimuli and methodological considerations

Female mate value at a glance: relationship of waist-to-hip ratio to health, fecundity and attractiveness.

TLDR
Cross-cultural and historical data are presented that suggest that the relationship between WHR and female attractiveness is not culture-specific and not inculcated by modern Western fashion dictates or media.

Judging female figures: A new methodological approach to male attractiveness judgments of female waist-to-hip ratio

Body shape and women’s attractiveness

TLDR
Examination of the role of body fat distribution as measured by waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) on the judgment of women’s physical attractiveness concludes that WHR is a reliable and honest signal of a woman's reproductive potential.

Facial appearance is a cue to oestrogen levels in women

TLDR
It is demonstrated that female facial appearance holds detectable cues to reproductive health that are considered attractive by other people.

Body weight, waist-to-hip ratio, breasts, and hips: Role in judgments of female attractiveness and desirability for relationships

Bulking up: The roles of sex and sexual orientation on attempts to manipulate physical attractiveness

Descriptive data were collected to test an ethological model of gendered behavior. I hypothesized that people have evolved psychological propensities to adopt behaviors that, in the past, would have…