In one of the largest psychological studies ever conducted, an intriguing difference between male and female views on what is attractive has emerged. The study was recently published in the academic journal Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery and was conducted by Lukas Prantl, a cosmetic surgeon and psychologist Martin Grundl from the University of Regensburg in Germany.
Until now, researchers had been found women were very good at anticipating what female body shape men found attractive.
There is a psychological theory that it makes sense for women to correctly estimate what men find desirable, and for men to calculate accurately what women like. This allows both genders to assess their own relative attractiveness with respect to the “competition”. Correct estimation permits better “matching”.
For example, if you are “premiere league” in the good-looking divisions, psychological theory predicts you will tend to seek and find a prospect in the same club. Gross mis-matching in desirability seems to rarely happen, and this might be because it doesn’t promote relationship longevity. A physically gorgeous person is surely likely to be seduced away from a less desirable mate, at some point in the future.
Prantl and Grundl argue that in Western cultures both sexes tend to agree a smaller female waist and relatively lower weight is more appealing. The main difference between men and women on the best female body shape has now been found, by this latest research, to be opinions about the ideal bust size.
Prantl and Grundl quote previous research which found over two decades, models in ‘Playboy’ magazine, who would be selected for male appreciation, had a much larger breast size in comparison to waist measurement, than models in Vogue, who would be chosen for female admiration.
A similar previous study found Playboy models tended to have the largest bust size while ‘fashion’ models the smallest. Yet another study cited by Prantl and Grundl, found ‘pinup’ girls in adult magazines for men in Japan, United States, and Germany sported larger breast sizes relative to waist measurements, than models and display mannequins, who should be designed to appeal to women.
Prantl and Grundl in their experiment used a web-based interface which allowed participants to manipulate the appearance of a woman’s photographed figure by adjusting five sizes and shapes including weight, hip width, waist width, bust size and leg length. By clicking on a button, the photograph of the female figure changes its dimensions. Participants adjusted the woman’s features until it matched their own beauty ideal.
A total of 34,015 participants – 16,686 men and 17,329 women aged between 15 and 98 years took part – rendering this one of the largest psychological studies ever…
Read more: Dr. Raj Persaud & Kathleen A. Martin Ginis, Huffington Post
