Female waist-to-hip and male waist-to-shoulder ratios as determinants of romantic partner desirability

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

Volumn 23, Issue 5, 2006, Pages 805-819

  Braun, Margaret F ^a   Bryan, Angela ^b  

^a PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO   (United States)

Author keywords

Agreeableness; Desirability; Personality; Physical attractiveness; Romantic partner; Waist to hip ratio; Waist to shoulder ratio

Indexed keywords

EID: 33751180346     PISSN: 02654075     EISSN: 14603608     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0265407506068264     Document Type: Article

References (39)

1. Bröder,A., & Hohmann, N. (2003). Variations in risk taking behavior over the menstrual cycle: An improved replication. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24, 391 - 398.
2. Bryan,A., Kenrick, D.T., Mahaffey,A. L., & Li, N. (2005). Judgments of desirability of romantic partners: The influence of dominance, attractiveness, and agreeableness. Manuscript in preparation.
3. Buss, D. M. (1988). The evolution of human intrasexual competition: Tactics of mate attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54 (4). 616 - 628.
4. Buss, D. M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavior, Brain, and Science, 12, 1 - 49.
5. Buss, D. M., & Barnes, M. (1986). Preferences in human mate selection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50 (3). 559 - 570.
6. Buss, D. M., Shackelford, T. K., Kirkpatrick, L. A., & Larsen, R. J. (2001). A half-century of mate preferences: The cultural evolution of values. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63, 491 - 503.
7. Clayton, A. H., Clavet, G. J., McGarvey, E. L., Warnock, J. K., & Weiss, K. (1999). Assessment of sexual functioning during the menstrual cycle. Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, 25, 281 - 291.
8. Darwin, C. (1871). The descent of man and selection in relation to sex. London: Murray.
9. Dawkins, R. (1989). The selfish gene (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
10. Dijkstra, P., & Buunk, B. P. (2001). Sex differences in the jealousy-evoking nature of a rival's body build. Evolution and Human Behavior, 22 (5). 335 - 341.
11. Ellis, B. J. (1992). The evolution of sexual attraction: Evaluative mechanisms in women. In J. Barkow, L. Cosmides, & J.Tooby (Eds.), The adapted mind (pp. 267 - 288). New York: Oxford University Press.
12. Franzoi, S. L., & Herzog, M. E. (1987). Judging physical attractiveness: What body aspects do we use? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 13 (1). 19 - 33.
13. Furnham, A., Moutafi, J., & Baguma, P. (2002). A cross-cultural study on the role of weight and waist-to-hip ratio on female attractiveness. Personality and Individual Differences, 32 (4). 729 - 745.
14. Furnham, A., Tan, T., & McManus, C. (1997). Waist-to-hip ratio preferences for body shape: A replication and extension. Personality and Individual Differences, 22 (4). 539 - 549.
15. Gangestad, S.W., Simpson, J.A., Cousins,A. J., Garver-Apgar, C. E., & Christensen, P. N. (2004). Women's preferences for male behavioral displays change across the menstrual cycle. Psychological Science, 15, 203 - 206.
16. Gangestad, S. W., & Thornhill, R. (2003). Facial masculinity and fluctuating asymmetry. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24, 231 - 241.
17. Geary, D. C., Vigil, J., & Byrd-Craven, J. (2004). Evolution of human mate choice. Journal of Sex Research, 41, 27 - 42.
18. Graziano, W. G. (1994). The development of agreeableness as a dimension of personality. In C. F. Haverson & G. A. Kohnstamm (Eds.), The developing structure of temperament and personality from infancy to adulthood (pp. 339 - 354). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
19. Graziano, W. G., & Eisenburg, N. (1997). Agreeableness: A dimension of personality. In R. Hogan & J. Johnson (Eds.), Handbook of personality psychology (pp. 795 - 824). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
20. Hamilton, W. D. (1964). The genetical evolution of social behavior: I and II. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 7, 1 - 52.
21. Henss, R. (2000). Waist-to-hip ratio and female attractiveness: Evidence from photographic stimuli and methodological considerations. Personality and Individual Differences, 28 (3). 501 - 513.
22. Hughes, S. M., & Gallup, G. G. (2003). Sex differences in morphological predictors of sexual behavior: Shoulder to hip and waist to hip ratios. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24 (3). 173 - 178.
23. Jensen-Campbell, L. A., Graziano, W. G., & West, S. G. (1995). Dominance, prosocial orientation, and female preferences: Do nice guys really finish last? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 427 - 440.
24. Kenrick, D. T. (1989). Bridging social psychology and sociobiology: The case of sexual attraction. In R. W. Bell & N. J. Bell (Eds.), Sociobiology and social sciences (pp. 5 - 23). Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech University Press.
25. Kenrick, D. T., Neuberg, S. L., Zierk, K. L., & Krones, J. M. (1994). Evolution and social cognition: Contrast effects as a function of sex, dominance, and physical attractiveness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 210 - 217.
26. Kenrick, D. T., Sadalla, E. K., Groth, G., & Trost, M. R. (1990). Evolution, traits, and the stages of human courtship: Qualifying the parental investment model. Journal of Personality, 58, 97 - 116.
27. Little, A. C., Burt, D. M., Penton-Voak, I. S., & Perrett, D. I. (2001) Self-perceived attractiveness influences human female preferences for sexual dimorphism and symmetry in male faces. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B: Biological Sciences, 268, 39 - 44.
28. Markey, C. N., Tinsley, B. J., Ericksen, A. J., Ozer, D. J., & Markey, P. M. (2002). Preadolescent's perceptions of females' body size and shape: Evolutionary and social learning perspectives. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 31 (2). 137 - 146.
29. Penton-Voak, I. S., & Perrett, D. I. (2000). Female preference for male faces changes cyclically: Further evidence. Evolution and Human Behavior, 21, 39 - 48.
30. Scheib, J. E. (2001). Context-specific mate choice criteria: Women's trade-offs in the contexts of long-term and extra-pair mateships. Personal Relationships, 8, 371 - 389.
31. Singh, D. (1993a). Is thin really beautiful and good? Relationship between waist-to-hip ratio and female attractiveness. Personality and Individual Differences, 16 (1). 123 - 132.
32. Singh, D. (1993b). Adaptive significance of female physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65 (2). 293 - 307.
33. Singh, D. (1994). Ideal female body shape: Role of body weight and waist-to-hip ratio. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 16 (3). 283 - 288.
34. Singh, D. (1995). Female judgment of male attractiveness for relationships: Role of waist-tohip ratio and financial status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69 (6). 1089 - 1101.
35. Singh, D., & Suwardi, L. (1995). Ethnic and gender consensus for the effect of waist-to-hip ratio on judgment of women's attractiveness. Human Nature, 6 (1). 51 - 66.
36. Smith, J. E., Waldorf, V. A., & Trembath, D. L. (1990). 'Single white male looking for thin, very attractive...'. Sex Roles, 23 (11-12). 675 - 685.
37. Sprecher, S., & Regan, P. C. (2002). Liking some things (in some people) more than others: Partner preferences in romantic relationships and friendships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 19 (4). 463 - 480.
38. Swami,V., & Tovee, M. J. (2005). Male physical attractiveness in Britain and Malaysia:A crosscultural study. Body Image, 2 (4). 383 - 393.
39. Trivers, R. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual selection and the descent of man, 1871-1971 (pp. 136 - 179). Chicago: Aldine.