Preferred Female Body Proportions Among Child-Free Men

Abstract

Based on conceptual extrapolations from sociobiological models concerning the significance of secondary sex characteristics as markers of a female's capacity to produce and nurture offspring, we reasoned that men's greater unwillingness to reproduce would be linked to preference for a female body type characterized by the relative absence of such markers. Heterosexual undergraduate men (N = 67) indicated their ideal (most arousing) female body type on-line by means of an adjustable female figure. As expected, the desire to remain childfree was linked to erotic preference for a combination of smaller breasts and larger waist-to-hip ratio. Additional research into individual factors that map onto variations in the preferred body proportions of erotic targets is thus encouraged.

Greater arousal in response to expansive female pubic hair is linked to more positive reactions to female sterility among heterosexual men

“…Along with the preference for larger breasts and narrower hips reported by Burris and Munteanu (2012), this suggests that men with higher (versus lower) sociosexuality scores are particularly aroused by the ''Barbie Doll'' female body aesthetic that currently predominates mainstream, male-oriented pornography (Schick et al, 2011). Combined with the nonsignificant relationships with both sterility items and arousal responses to the remaining pubic patterns, this suggests that higher sociosexuality scorers' arousal triggers may be more influenced by cultural factors (such as exposure to pornography) than by the potential reproductive relevance of female appearance characteristics.…”

“…Participants were the same as Burris and Munteanu (2012): These undergraduate men gave electronic consent to participate in an IRB-approved online study described as an exploration of ''sexual attractiveness and attitudes toward fatherhood'' among heterosexual men. We assumed that participants selfselected based on the sexual orientation criterion.…”

“…All participants indicated that, to the best of their knowledge, they were not sterile but had not fathered children. Following the demographic questionnaire, participants completed the following in fixed order (for a description of other measures completed but not pertinent to the present study, see Burris & Munteanu, 2012).…”

“…For example, comparatively large breasts and a comparatively small waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) have been linked to higher daily levels of reproduction-related hormones such as estradiol and progesterone (Jasieńska, Ziomkiewicz, Ellison, Lipson, & Thune, 2004; see Singh & Singh, 2011, for a review of additional research linking lower WHR to higher reproductive potential). In turn, Burris and Munteanu (2012) found that greater reluctance to reproduce in a sample of young heterosexual men predicted erotic preference for women displaying a combination of comparatively small breasts and a comparatively large WHR, suggestive of lower fertility.…”

“…In Burris and Munteanu (2012), higher sociosexuality predicted preference for larger breasts and narrower hips -features of the ''Barbie Doll ideal'' for women identified by Schick et al (2011) as ubiquitous in contemporary male-oriented pornography. An additional feature of this ideal is a hairless pubic region, so we expected higher (versus lower) sociosexuality to predict higher arousal in response to the hairless pubic representation.…”