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Masculine Somatotype and Hirsuteness as Determinants of Sexual Attractiveness to Women

DOI:10.1023/A:1021889228469
Authors:
Alan Dixson at Victoria University of Wellington
Alan Dixson
Gayle Halliwell
Gayle Halliwell
Gayle Halliwell
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Rebecca East at Royal Veterinary College
Rebecca East
Praveen Wignarajah
Praveen Wignarajah
Praveen Wignarajah
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Abstract

Five questionnaire studies asked women to rate the attractiveness of outline drawings of male figures that varied in somatotype, body proportions, symmetry, and in distribution of trunk hair. In Study 1, back-posed figures of mesomorphic (muscular) somatotypes were rated as most attractive, followed by average, ectomorphic (slim), and endomorphic (heavily built) figures by both British and Sri Lankan women. In Study 2, computer morphing of somatotypes to produce an intergraded series resulted in a graded response in terms of perceived attractiveness which mirrored the findings of Study 1. In Study 3, back-posed figures were manipulated in order to change waist-to-hip ratios (WHR) and waist-to-shoulder ratios (WSR). A WHR of 0.8-0.9 and a WSR of 0.6 were rated as most attractive and these effects were more pronounced when modeling mesomorphic figures. In Study 4, symmetric figures of a mesomorphic somatotype were rated as less attractive than a normal (asymmetric) version of the same man. Study 5 showed that presence of trunk hair had a marked, positive effect upon women's ratings of attractiveness for both mesomorphic and endomorphic male figures. Women also judged figures with trunk hair as being older and they consistently rated endomorphic figures as being older than mesomorphs. These results are consistent with effects of sexual selection upon visual signals that advertise health, physical prowess, age, and underlying endocrine condition in the human male.
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Masculine somatotype and hirsuteness as determinants of sexual attractiveness to women
Dixson, Alan F;Halliwell, Gayle;East, Rebecca;Wignarajah, Praveen;Anderson, Matthew J
Archives of Sexual Behavior; Feb 2003; 32, 1; ProQuest Central
pg. 29
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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
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... Recognizing the important role played by existing models of the ideal body image, as indicated by mass media, it should be noted that a variety of factors explain body image. Among the factors that have been identified as explaining body image, apart from the sociocultural influence of the mass media, many studies have indicated the importance of neural, evolutionary and morphological factors in this context [6][7][8][9][10][11]. In the assessment of the male body and its attractiveness, according to some studies, women assess stronger men as more attractive than weaker men [11], but other studies have indicated a relationship between the male and hairy somatotype and the assessment of the sexual attractiveness of the male body by women (Masculine Somatotype and Hirsuteness) in terms of the determinants of sexual attractiveness to women. ...
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... It is not permitted to frame or use framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo, or other proprietary information of the Publisher. 18 Inoltre, sembra essere il biotipo costituzionale più aggressivo, 19,20 in quanto presenta una marcata attività gonadica, denotando così una probabile elevata produzione di testosterone. 20,21 Tra i rischi patologici, manifesta una tendenza alle malattie cardiovascolari. ...
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... Self-report methods including questionnaires and behavioral diaries have yielded important insights regarding the interactions between the sexual, attachment and caregiving behavioral systems (Birnbaum, Mikulincer, Reis, Gillath, & Orpaz, 2006;Goldey & van Anders, 2012;Rubin & Campbell, 2012;Shaver & Mikulincer, 2006;Simpson & Gangestad, 1992). Experiments have examined individuals' reactions to sexual stimuli, and self-report studies have been used to investigate the characteristics of preferred mates (Buss, 1989;Dixson, Halliwell, East, Wignarajah, & Anderson, 2003). More recently, functional MRI studies have revealed the neural correlates of sexual motivation, sexual reward and sexual bonding (Cacioppo, Bianchi-Demicheli, Frum, Pfaus, & Lewis, 2012;Georgiadis & Kringelbach, 2012;Gillath & Canterberry, 2012;Ortigue, Bianchi-Demicheli, Patel, Frum, & Lewis, 2010). ...
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Drive theories of motivation proposed by Lorenz and Tinbergen did not survive experimental scrutiny; however these were replaced by the behavioral systems framework. Unfortunately, political forces within science including the rise of sociobiology and comparative psychology, caused neglect of this important framework. This review revives the concept of behavioral systems and demonstrates its utility in the development of a unified theory of human social behavior and social bonding. Although the term “attachment” has been used to indicate social bonds which motivate affiliation, four differentiable social reward systems mediate social proximity and bond formation: the affiliation (attachment), caregiving, dominance and sexual behavioral systems. Ethology is dedicated to integrating inborn capacities with experiential learning as well as the proximal and ultimate causes of behavior. Hence, the behavioral systems framework developed by ethologists nearly 50 years ago, enables discussion of a unified theory of human social behavior.
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... 11 Moreover, women find men with muscular, mesomorphic builds most physically attractive. 12,13 Thus, fitness attributes that interest men the most appear to be those in which better performance would affirm or accentuate their masculinity. Similarly, women have greater joint range of motion than men at many joints, 14,15 and feedback on flexibility performance might affirm or accentuate their femininity. ...
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... While WHR is a factor in perceptions of female body form attractiveness (Barber, 1995;Bovet & Raymond, 2015;Singh, 1993), the most prominent physical feature linked to perceptions of male body form attractiveness is physical fitness and upper body strength (Dixson et al., 2003;Hönekopp et al., 2007). Shoulder to hip ratio (SHR), the circumference of the shoulders relative to the hips, is a sexually dimorphic trait in humans and a higher SHR is positively associated with attractiveness in men (Fan et al., 2005;Horvath, 1981;Tovée et al., 1999). ...
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While there are studies regarding the neural correlates of human facial attractiveness, there are few investigations considering neural responses for body form attractiveness. The most prominent physical feature defining men’s attractiveness is their physical fitness and upper body strength. Shoulder-to-hip ratio (SHR), a sexually dimorphic trait in humans, is an indicator of men’s attractiveness for both men and women. The current study is the first to report on the neurophysiological responses to male and female body forms varying in SHR in healthy heterosexual men and women observers. Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals were acquired while participants completed an oddball task as well as a subsequent attractiveness judgement task. Behavioral results showed larger SHRs were considered more attractive than smaller SHRs, regardless of stimuli and participants’ sex. The electrophysiological results for both the oddball task and the explicit judgement of attractiveness showed that brain activity related to male SHR body stimuli differed depending on the specific ratios, both at early and late processing stages. For female avatars, SHR did not modulate neural activity. Collectively the data implicate posterior brain regions in the perception of body forms that differ in attractiveness vis-a-vis variation of SHR, and frontal brain regions when such perceptions are rated explicitly.
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... Sembra che, in condizioni di una alterata omeostasi, tenda ad accumulare facilmente tessuto adiposo, sviluppando una obesità androide [27]. Inoltre, risulta essere il biotipo costituzionale più aggressivo [28][29], poiché presenta una attività marcata delle gonadi, quindi denota una produzione, probabilmente, elevata del testosterone [19]. Tra i rischi patologici, manifesta una tendenza alle malattie cardiovascolari [16]. ...
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... Relative to facial hair, research on women's preferences for men's body hair has also been mixed. Some studies have shown that women rate men with considerable body hair as more attractive [50,51], while other studies have shown that hairless men are rated higher in attractiveness [51][52][53][54][55][56][57]. The ectoparasite avoidance hypothesis proposes one reason why hairless men may be considered more attractive. ...
Sex Differences in Physical Attractiveness
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This chapter provides an overview of the literature on the sex differences in physical attractiveness, and how it influences mate choice. More specifically, it investigates evolutionary perspectives on men and women’s preferences for physical traits, such as ideal breast features in women, and masculine physical traits (i.e., muscularity, broad shoulders) in men. The chapter focuses on conditional (i.e., ecological/environmental) roles on mate preferences, in addition to examining possible individual differences, such as mate value. The chapter covers the following: (1) An overview of sex differences in attractiveness, including theoretical explanations, (2) A broad focus on women’s ideal preferences, (3) A broad focus on men’s ideal preferences, and (4) A discussion on conditional factors and individual differences influencing preferences for ideal traits.
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... In addition to male muscularity serving a direct role in competing with other males, a number of studies have shown that it is also associated with female judgments of male attractiveness (Horvath, 1981;Dixson et al., 2003;Fan et al., 2005;Geary, 2005;Dixson and Dixson, 2007;Frederick and Haselton, 2007;Honekopp et al., 2007;Dixson et al., 2010b) and with reproductive success in China (Schooling et al., 2011), although men may overestimate how much muscle mass is optimally attractive (Lei and Perrett, 2021). These female preferences would have evolved only if there were preexisting fitness benefits to male muscularity (e.g., in contest competition for mates or in hunting). ...
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Narrative Review of Sex Differences in Muscle Strength, Endurance, Activation, Size, Fiber Type, and Strength Training Participation Rates, Preferences, Motivations, Injuries, and Neuromuscular Adaptations
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Full-text available
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Article
  • Mar 1995
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Human Fluctuating Asymmetry and Sexual Behavior
Article
  • Sep 1994
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Article
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Article
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Descriptive data were collected to test an ethological model of gendered behavior. I hypothesized that people have evolved psychological propensities to adopt behaviors that, in the past, would have enhanced reproductive fitness. Exaggeration of gender‐related physical signals is one example. I therefore predicted that men and women would use weight room equipment in ways that exaggerated, rather than reduced, biological sex differences. A brief anonymous survey was completed by 448 individuals as they entered 1 of 5 gymnasiums to begin their workout. Comparisons both within and across gender supported the ethological model. Additional comparisons of data from heterosexual and gay men suggest that the propensity to exaggerate gender signals covaries with gender rather than with sexual orientation.
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Figure Preferences in Two Generations of Men: The Use of Figure Drawings Illustrating Differences in Muscle Mass
Article
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Using a new set of male figure drawings which(unlike the Stunkard, Sorensen, & Schulsinger, 1983figures) illustrate differing degrees of muscle massrather than body fat, college men and adult men selected their current figure, ideal figure,figure they thought most attractive to women and figurethat they thought would be the ideal for other men.Adult men's choices indicated satisfaction with their current bodies, but college men's selectionsindicated a desire to be larger (partly because theybelieve that a much larger body is what everybody {menand women} finds most attractive). The male body college women find most attractive is largerthan what college men indicate they currently have butsmaller than what the college men want to look like.Adult women chose an ideal male figure which is the same as that which the adult men indicate theyhave. Thus, selections using the new figure drawingsshow a desire for more muscle mass in college men andsatisfaction in adult men, while selections using the Stunkard et al. (1983) figuredrawings indicated satisfaction in college men and adesire for less body fat in the adult men (Rozin &Fallon, 1988). Both sets of figures provide valuableinformation.
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A Study of Fluctuating Asymmetry
Article
The correlations between the fluctuating asymmetries of different characters were investigated in three species (chaetae and wings of Drosophila melanogaster, cheek teeth of Peromyscus leucopus, and cheek teeth of the fossil horse Griphippus gratus). A mean correlation of 0 was found for the two former species, but a mean positive correlation of +0.046 was found for the horse. Reasons are given why this exception may be only apparent. The intensities of some morphological differences in Drosophila have a general component even though they may be bilaterally independent. The lack of variation for a general buffering capacity against minor developmental accidents was not expected. This and related matters are discussed.
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