Rozmus-Wrzesinska M, Pawlowski B.
Department of Anthropology, University of Wroclaw, ul. Kuznicza 35, Wroclaw 50-138, Poland.
Women's attractiveness has been found to be negatively correlated with waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) in many studies. Two components of this ratio can, however, carry different signals for a potential mate. Hip size indicates pelvic size and the amount of additional fat storage that can be used as a source of energy. Waist size conveys information such as current reproductive status or health status. To assess which of these two dimensions is more important for men's perception of female attractiveness, we used a series of photographs of a woman with WHR manipulated either by hip or waist changes. Attractiveness was correlated negatively with WHR, when WHR was manipulated by waist size. The relation was inverted-U shape when WHR was changed by hip size. We postulate that in westernized societies with no risk of seasonal lack of food, the waist, conveying information about fecundity and health status, will be more important than hip size for assessing a female's attractiveness.
Singh D.
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin 78712.
Interrelationships of female body fat distribution as measured by the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), overall body size, perceived attractiveness, youthfulness, health, and need to lose weight were investigated. Drawings showing thin females with high WHRs and heavier females with low WHRs were presented to college-age women with low and high scores on the Restrained Eating Scale (Herman & Polivy. [1980]. Obesity [pp. 208-225]. Philadelphia: Saunders) and men who ranked figures for various attributes. Female subjects, regardless of their eating style, as well as male subjects, judged heavier female target figures with low WHRs as more attractive and healthier than thinner figures with higher WHRs. The rankings for youthfulness and need to lose weight were not systematically affected by the size of the WHR. Female subjects perceived heavier female target figures with low WHR to represent ideal female figures. Female subjects with a restrained eating style felt their own body was not similar to idealized female figures and expressed unhappiness with their body shape; this was not true of unrestrained eaters. It is proposed that female attractiveness and ideal female shape may be more influenced by WHR than overall body size.
Fan J, Dai W, Liu F, Wu J.
Institute of Textiles and Clothing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. tcfanjt@inet.polyu.edu.hk
Based on 69 scanned Chinese male subjects and 25 Caucasian male subjects, the present study showed that the volume height index (VHI) is the most important visual cue to male body attractiveness of young Chinese viewers among the many body parameters examined in the study. VHI alone can explain ca. 73% of the variance of male body attractiveness ratings. The effect of VHI can be fitted with two half bell-shaped exponential curves with an optimal VHI at 17.6 l m(-2) and 18.0 l m(-2) for female raters and male raters, respectively. In addition to VHI, other body parameters or ratios can have small, but significant effects on male body attractiveness. Body proportions associated with fitness will enhance male body attractiveness. It was also found that there is an optimal waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) at 0.8 and deviations from this optimal WHR reduce male body attractiveness.
Tovee MJ, Maisey DS, Emery JL, Cornelissen PL.
Department of Psychology, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK. m.j.tovee@ncl.ac.uk
Evolutionary psychology suggests that a woman's sexual attractiveness is based on cues of health and reproductive potential. In recent years, research has focused on the ratio of the width of the waist to the width of the hips (the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). A low WHR (i.e. a curvaceous body) is believed to correspond to the optimal fat distribution for high fertility, and so this shape should be highly attractive. In this paper we present evidence that weight scaled for height (the body mass index (BMI)) is the primary determinant of sexual attractiveness rather than WHR. BMI is also strongly linked to health and reproductive potential. Furthermore, we show how covariation of apparent BMI and WHR in previous studies led to the overestimation of the importance of WHR in the perception of female attractiveness. Finally, we show how visual cues, such as the perimeter-area ratio (PAR), can provide an accurate and reliable index of an individual's BMI and could be used by an observer to differentiate between potential partners.
etc etc
Go look at
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?DB=pubmed if you are interested in some of the latest research. The results are still contradictory depending on which population that is tested.
Normal WHR in the general population is 0.8 in females and 1.0 in males.
