A cross-cultural study on the role of weight and waist-to-hip ratio on female attractiveness

The purpose of this study was to cross-culturally test Singh's (1993) hypothesis of the effect of weight and waist-to-hip ratio on judgements of female attractiveness, using stimulus figures developed by Tassinary and Hansen (1998). A total of 308 subjects, half male, half female, were recruite...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPersonality and individual differences Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 729 - 745
Main Authors Furnham, Adrian, Moutafi, Joanna, Baguma, Peter
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2002
Elsevier
Subjects
Attractiveness
Behavior. Attitude
Biological and medical sciences
Body shape
Crosscultural studies
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Social psychology
Weight
Women
Greece
Great Britain
Europe
Africa
England
United Kingdom
Uganda
Human
Social environment
Crosscultural study
Attitude
Body weight
Sex
Physical attraction
Stereotype
Hip
Body size
Young adult
Adult
Judgment
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Summary:The purpose of this study was to cross-culturally test Singh's (1993) hypothesis of the effect of weight and waist-to-hip ratio on judgements of female attractiveness, using stimulus figures developed by Tassinary and Hansen (1998). A total of 308 subjects, half male, half female, were recruited from Greece, Uganda and the United Kingdom. Their task was to rate eight line drawings varying in weight (light and heavy) and waist-to-hip ratio WHR (0.5, 0.7 with small waist and hip size, 0.7 with large waist and hip size, and 0.9). The stimulus figures were rated on attractiveness, healthiness, fertility, youthfulness, and willingness to engage in short-term and long-term relationships, on a seven-point Likert scale. The results showed an overall preference for the 0.7 WHR and the light weight category, as predicted. However, cross-cultural differences showed Ugandans had a preference for the 0.5 WHR and the heavy weight category. The prediction that small waist and hip size would be preferred over large waist and hip size was also confirmed. In accordance with predictions, attractiveness was found to be significantly correlated with all the attributes tested.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0191-8869
1873-3549
DOI:10.1016/S0191-8869(01)00073-3