Assessment of Waist-to-Hip Ratio Attractiveness in Women: An Anthropometric Analysis of Digital Silhouettes

Abstract

The low proportion of waist to hip size in females is a unique and adaptive human feature. In contemporary human populations, the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is negatively associated with women’s health, fecundity, and cognitive ability. It is, therefore, hypothesized that men will prefer women with low WHR. Although this prediction is supported by many studies, considerable disagreement persists about which WHR values are the most attractive and the importance of WHR for attractiveness of the female body. Unfortunately, the methods applied thus far are flawed in several ways. In the present study, we investigated male preferences for female WHR using a high precision assessment procedure and digitally manufactured, high quality, anthropometrically informed stimuli which were disentangled from body mass covariation. Forty men were requested to choose the most attractive silhouette consecutively from six series (2 levels of realism × 3 levels of body mass), each consisting of 26 female images that varied in WHR (from .60 to .85 by .01). Substantial inter-individual variation in the choices made was observed. Nevertheless, low and average WHR values were chosen more frequently than above-average values or values below the normal variation of the trait. This preference pattern mirrors the relationship between WHR and mate value, suggesting that the preferences are adaptive.

“Drawing” Conclusions About Perceptions of Ideal Male and Female Body Shapes

“…Within each body weight category-underweight, normal weight, and overweight-were four values of WHR: 0.70, 0.80, 0.90, and 1.00. This method and those similar to it (e.g., photographic stimuli, digitally manipulated silhouettes) reveal a robust preference for female figures with WHRs that approximate 0.70 (e.g., Furnham et al 2005;Henss 2000;Kościński 2014), a finding consistent with research This research was presented at the 14th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, LA.…”

“…Some values that were present in ancestral conditions are often excluded from stimulus sets, such as WHR values that reflect pregnancy (i.e., values greater than 1.00) in studies of the ideal female body shape (e.g., Furnham et al 2005;Henss 2000;Kościński 2014). Furthermore, some features that are present in the modern environment, such as breasts that have been surgically enhanced to extraordinary size or body shapes that reflect morbid obesity (Swami and Tovée 2005a), would not have been present in ancestral environments.…”

“…Another criticism that has been leveled against the use of stimulus sets is that having too few figures reduces the precision with which researchers can estimate the most attractive value for a given trait (Crossley et al 2012;Kościński 2014). Many WHR studies, for example, use Singh's (1993) original line drawings of only four WHR values with 0.70 as the smallest (e.g., Schmalt 2006;Sugiyama 2004).…”

Writing Quantitative Empirical Manuscripts With Rigor and Flair (Yes, It’s Possible)

“…Future research should also examine other traits that might influence the opening gambit expectations. Candidate physical traits may be shouldertowaist ratios for men, and waisttohip ratios for women (Kościński, 2014). Nonphysical factors that may impact the expectations of opening gambits include personality factors or economic status, thus future research would benefit from the investigation of these variables as well.…”

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The objective was to develop an equation capable of predicting the aesthetic note using anthropometric and body composition data. Participated in this study 80 women with a median age of 22 (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35). Anthropometric measures and body composition were measured: abdomen / hip ratio (AHR); Body Mass Index (BMI), visceral fat area (VFA), muscle mass (MM), fat mass (FM), waist hip ratio (WHR), somatotype, circumferences and skinfolds.

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