Preferences for female body weight and shape in three European countries

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2007

Authors

Viren Swami (Author) Other; Felix Neto (Author) FPCEUP; Martin J Tovee (Author) Other; Adrian Furnham (Author) Other

Journal

Title: European Psychologist

Vol. 12 No. 3

Pages: 220-228

ISSN: 1016-9040

Publisher: Hogrefe Publishing

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 16 Citations

ISI Web of Science

Scopus - 17 Citations

PsycInfo

Scientific classification

FOS: Social sciences > Psychology

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-004-D47

DOI: 10.1027/1016-9040.12.3.220

Abstract (EN): Body mass index (BMI) and body shape as measured by the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) are important components in judgments of women's bodily attractiveness. The relative importance of each of these cues was examined in three countries: Britain, Spain, and Portugal. Male participants from Britain, Spain, and Portugal, respectively, were asked to rate a set of images of real women with known BMI and WHR. The results showed that, regardless of the cultural setting, BMI was the primary determinant of women's physical attractiveness, with consistent preferences for relatively slender women. WHR emerged as a significant predictor of attractiveness judgments for the Spanish and Portuguese groups (with preferences for low WHRs, indicative of a curvaceous female body), but not the British group. These findings are discussed in terms of the different cultural values ascribed to participants in the three countries.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

Notes: <a href="http://gateway.isiknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=Alerting&SrcApp=Alerting&DestApp=WOS&DestLinkType=FullRecord&KeyUT=000249716100006">Acesso à Web of Science</a> <br> <a href=" http://www.scopus.com/record/display.url?eid=2-s2.0-34548241758&origin=resultslist">Acesso à Scopus</a>

No. of pages: 9