Women's body morphology and preferences for sexual partners' characteristics

Evolution and Human Behavior

Volumn 29, Issue 1, 2008, Pages 19-25

  Pawlowski, Boguslaw ^a,b,c   Jasienska, Grazyna ^d,e  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WROC AW   (Poland)

^b DEPARTAMENTO DE FÍSICA APLICADA   (Mexico)

^c INSTITUTE OF ANTHROPOLOGY   (Poland)

^d JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL COLLEGE   (Poland)

^e HARVARD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Attractiveness; BMI; Commitment; Conditional preferences; Resources; WHR

Indexed keywords

EID: 36749066634     PISSN: 10905138     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2007.07.003     Document Type: Article

References (40)

1. Baize H.R., and Schroeder J.E. Personality and mate selection in personal ads: Evolutionary preferences in a public mate selection process. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 10 (1995) 517-536
2. Barber N. The evolutionary psychology of physical attractiveness: Sexual selection and human morphology. Ethology and Sociobiology 16 (1995) 395-424
3. Bereczkei T., Voros S., Gal A., and Bernath L. Resources, attractiveness, family commitment; reproductive decisions in human mate choice. Ethology 103 (1997) 681-699
4. Buss D.M. Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 12 (1989) 1-49
5. Buunk B.P., Dijkstra P., Fetchenhauer D., and Kenrick D.T. Age and gender differences in mate selection criteria for various involvement levels. Personal Relationships 9 (2002) 271-278
6. Furberg A.S., Jasienska G., Bjurstam N., Torjesen P.A., Emaus A., Lipson S.F., et al. Metabolic and hormonal profiles: HDL cholesterol as a plausible biomarker of breast cancer risk. The Norwegian EBBA study. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention 14 (2005) 33-40
7. Furnham A., and Baguma P. Cross-cultural differences in the evaluation of male and female body shapes. International Journal of Eating Disorders 15 (1994) 81-89
8. Furnham A., Moutafi J., and Baguma P. A cross-cultural study on the role of weight and waist-to-hip ratio on judgements of women's attractiveness. Personality and Individual Differences 32 (2002) 729-745
9. Furnham A., Petrides K.V., and Constantinides A. The effects of body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio on ratings of female attractiveness, fecundity, and health. Personality and Individual Differences 38 (2005) 1823-1834
10. Greenlees I.A., and McGrew W.C. Sex and age differences in preferences and tactics of mate attraction: Analysis of published advertisements. Ethology and Sociobiology 15 (1994) 59-72
11. Henss R. Waist-to-hip ratio and female attractiveness: Evidence from photographic stimuli and methodological considerations. Personality and Individual Differences 28 (2000) 501-513
12. Jasienska G., Ziomkiewicz A., Ellison P.T., Lipson S.F., and Thune I. Large breasts and narrow waists indicate high reproductive potential in women. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 271 (2004) 1213-1217
13. Jones B.C., Little A.C., Boothroyd L., Feinberg D.R., Cornwell R.E., DeBruine L.M., et al. Women's physical and psychological condition independently predict their preference for apparent health in faces. Evolution and Human Behavior 26 (2005) 451-457
14. Koziel S., and Pawlowski B. Comparison between primary and secondary mate markets: An analysis of data from lonely hearts columns. Personality and Individual Differences 35 (2003) 1849-1857
15. Li N.P., Bailey J.M., Kenrick D.T., and Linsenmeier J.A.W. The necessities and luxuries of mate preferences: Testing the tradeoffs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 82 (2002) 947-955
16. Li N.P., and Kenrick D.T. Sex similarities and differences in preferences for short-term mates: What, whether, and why. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 90 (2006) 468-489
17. Lipson S.F., and Ellison P.T. Normative study of age variation in salivary progesterone profiles. Journal of Biosocial Science 24 (1992) 233-244
18. Lipson S.F., and Ellison P.T. Comparison of salivary steroid profiles in naturally occurring conception and non-conception cycles. Human Reproduction 11 (1996) 2090-2096
19. Little A.C., Burt D.M., Penton-Voak I.S., and Perrett D.I. Self-perceived attractiveness influences human preferences for sexual dimorphism and symmetry in male faces. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 268 (2001) 39-44
20. Miller G.F. How mate choice shaped human nature: A review of sexual selection and human evolution. In: Crawford C., and Krebs D. (Eds). Handbook of human evolutionary psychology: Ideas, issues and applications (1998), Lawrence Erlbaum, New York
21. Nelson L.D., and Morrison E.L. The symptoms of resource scarcity: Judgments of food and finances influence preference for potential partners. Psychological Science 16 (2005) 167-173
22. Nettle D. Women's height, reproductive success and the evolution of sexual dimorphism in modern humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 269 (2002) 1919-1923 10.1098/rspb.2002.2111
23. Pawlowski B. Variable preferences for sexual dimorphism in height as a strategy for increasing the pool of potential partners in humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 270 (2003) 709-712
24. Pawlowski B., and Dunbar R. Withholding age as putative deception in mate search tactics. Evolution and Human Behavior 20 (1999) 53-69
25. Pawlowski B., and Dunbar R. Human mate choice strategies. In: Noe R., van Hoof J., and Hammerstein P. (Eds). Economics in nature. Social dilemmas, mate choice and biological markets (2001), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 187-202
26. Pawlowski B., and Jasienska G. Women's preferences for sexual dimorphism in height depend on menstrual cycle phase and expected duration of relationship. Biological Psychology 70 (2005) 38-43
27. Pawlowski B., and Koziel S. The impact of traits offered in personal advertisements on response rates. Evolution and Human Behavior 23 (2002) 139-149
28. Penton-Voak I.S., Little A.C., Jones B.C., Burt D.M., Tiddeman B.P., and Perrett D.I. Measures of female condition influence preferences for sexual dimorphism in faces of male Homo sapiens. Journal of Comparative Psychology 117 (2003) 264-271
29. Singh D. Body shape and women's attractiveness. The critical role of waist-to-hip ratio. Human Nature-An Interdisciplinary Biosocial Perspective 4 (1993) 321-397
30. Singh D., and Young R.K. Body weight, waist-to-hip ratio, breasts, and hips: Role in judgments of female attractiveness and desirability for relationships. Ethology and Sociobiology 16 (1995) 483-507
31. Smith K.L., Cornelissen P.L., and Tovée M.J. Color 3D bodies and judgements of human female attractiveness. Evolution and Human Behavior 28 (2007) 48-54
32. Swami V., Antonakopoulos N., Tovée M.J., and Furnham A. A critical test of the waist-to-hip ratio hypothesis of female physical attractiveness in Britain and Greece. Sex Roles 54 (2006) 201-211
33. Swami V., Caprario C., Tovee M.J., and Furnham A. Female physical attractiveness in Britain and Japan: A cross-cultural study. European Journal of Personality 20 (2006) 69-81
34. Swami V., and Tovée M.J. Female physical attractiveness in Britain and Malaysia: A cross-cultural study. Body Image 2 (2005) 115-128
35. Tovée M.J., Maisey D.S., Emery J., and Cornelissen P.L. Visual cues to female physical attractiveness. Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences 266 (1999) 211-218
36. Wass P., Waldenstrom U., Rossner S., and Hellberg D. An android body fat distribution in females impairs the pregnancy rate in in-vitro fertilization-embryo transfer. Human Reproduction 12 (1997) 2057-2060
37. Waynforth D., and Dunbar R.I.M. Conditional mate choice strategies in humans: Evidence from "Lonely hearts' advertisements". Behaviour 132 (1995) 755-779
38. Wiederman M.W. Evolved gender differences in mate preferences: Evidence from personal advertisements. Ethology and Sociobiology 14 (1993) 331-352
39. Zaadstra B.M., Seidell J.C., Vannoord P.A.H., Tevelde E.R., Habbema J.D.F., Vrieswijk B., et al. Fat and female fecundity-Prospective-study of effect of body-fat distribution on conception rates. British Medical Journal 306 (1993) 484-487
40. Ziomkiewicz, A., Ellison, P. T., Lipson, F., Thune, I., & Jasienska, G. (in press). Body fat, energy balance and estradiol levels: A study based on hormonal profiles from complete menstrual cycles. Human Reproduction.