Female waist-to-hip ratio, body mass index and sexual attractiveness in China

Current Zoology

Volumn 56, Issue 2, 2010, Pages 175-181

  Dixson, B J ^a   Baoguo, L I ^b   Dixson, A F ^a  

^a VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON   (New Zealand)

^b NORTHWEST UNIVERSITY   (China)

Author keywords

Body mass index; China; Female attractiveness; Sexual selection; Waist to hip ratio

Indexed keywords

EID: 77449157562     PISSN: 00017302     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/czoolo/56.2.175     Document Type: Article

References (47)

1. Barber N, 1995. The evolutionary psychology of physical attractiveness: Sexual selection and human morphology. Ethol. Sociobiol. 16: 395-424.
2. Boot AM, Bouquet J, de Ridder MAJ, Krenning EP, Keizer-Shrama SMPFM, 1997. Determinants of body composition measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in Dutch children and adolescents. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 66: 232-238.
3. Buss DM, 2003. The evolution of desire (2nd ed.). New York: Basic Books.
4. Carter LEJ, Heath BH, 1990. Somatotyping: Development and applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
5. Chapis B, 2008. Primeval kinship. How pair-bonding gave birth to human society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
6. Clarys JP, Martin AD, Drinkwater DT, 1984. Gross tissue weights in the human body by cadaver dissection. Hum. Biol. 56: 459-473.
7. Dixson AF, (2009). Sexual selection and the origins of human mating systems. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
8. Dixson BJ, Dixson AF, Bishop P, Parish A, 2008. Human physique and sexual attractiveness in men and women: A New Zealand - U.S.A comparative study. Arch. Sex. Behav. DOI: 10.1007/s10508-008-9441-y.
9. Dixson BJ, Dixson AF, Li B, Anderson MJ, 2007a. Studies of human physique and Sexual attractiveness: Sexual preferences of men and women in China. Am. J.Hum. Biol. 19: 88-95.
10. Dixson BJ, Dixson AF, Morgan B, Anderson MJ, 2007b. Human physique and sexual attractiveness: Sexual preferences of men and women in Bakossiland, Cameroon. Arch. Sex. Behav. 36: 369-375.
11. Dixson BJ, Sagata K, Linklater WL, Dixson AF, 2009. Male Preferences for Female Waist-to-Hip Ratio and Body Mass Index in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21181.
12. Dufour DL, Slather ML, 2002. Comparative and evolutionary dimensions of the energetics of human pregnancy and lactation. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 14: 584-602.
13. Ford CS, Beach FA, 1951. Patterns of sexual behavior. New York: Harper.
14. Furnham A, Tan T, McManus C. 1997. Waist-to-hip ratio and preferences for body shape: A replication and extension. Person. Individ. Diff. 22: 540-549.
15. Grammer K, Fink B, Møller AP, Thornhill R, 2003. Darwinian aesthetics: Sexual selection and the biology of beauty. Biol. Rev. 78: 385-407.
16. Henss R, 2000. Waist-to-hip ratio and female attractiveness. Evidence from photographic stimuli and methodological considerations. Person. Individ. Diff. 28: 501-513.
17. Hughes SM, Dispenza F, Gallup GGJr, 2004. Ratings of voice attractiveness predicts sexual behavior and body configuration. Evol. Hum. Behav. 25: 294-304.
18. Jasienska G, Ziomkiewicz A, Ellison PT, Lipson SF, Thune I, 2004. Large breasts and narrow waists indicate high reproductive potential in women. Proc. Roy. Soc. London. Ser. B, Biol. Sci. 271: 1213-1217.
19. Kirschner MA, Samojilik E, 1991. Sex hormone metabolism in upper and lower body obesity. Int. J. Obes. 15: 101-108.
20. Lassek WD, Gaulin SJC, 2007. Menarche is related to fat distribution. Am. J. Phys.Anthropol. 133: 1147-1151.
21. Lipson SF, Ellison PT, 1996. Comparison of salivary steroid profiles in naturally occurring conception and non-conception cycles. Hum. Reprod. 11: 2090-2096.
22. Marlowe F, Apicella CL, Reed D, 2005. Men's preferences for women's profile waist-to-hip ratio in two societies. Evol. Hum. Behav. 25: 371-378.
23. Martin RD, Willner LA, Dettling A, 1994. The evolution of sexual size dimorphism in primates. In The Differences Between the Sexes. (Short, RV & Balaban, E eds), pp 159-200, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK.
24. Merzenich H, Boeing H, Wahrendorf J, 1993. Dietary fat and sports activity as determinants for age of menarche. Am. J. Epidemiol. 138: 217-224.
25. Moran C, Hernandez E, Ruiz JE, Fonseca ME, Bermudez JA, Zarate A, 1999. Upper body obesity and hyperinsulinemia are associated with anovulation. Gynecol. Obstet. Investig. 47: 1-5.
26. Pond C, 1997. The biological origins of adipose tissue in humans. In: Morbeck, ME.,Galloway, A., & Zihlman, AL. The evolving female: a life history perspective. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p 147-162.
27. Roberts R, Weinfeld A, Nguyen, K, 2005. "Universal" and ethnic ideals of beautiful buttocks and how to create them surgically. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, New Orleans, LA: April 30th, 2005.
28. Rozmus-Wrzesinska M, Pawlowski B, 2005. Men's ratings of female attractiveness are influenced more by changes in female waist size compared with changes in hip size. Biolo. Psychol. 68: 299-308.
29. Singh D, 1993. Adaptive significance of female attractiveness: role of waist-to-hip ratio. J. Pers. Soc. Psych. 65: 293-307.
30. Singh D, 2002. Female mate value at a glance: Relationship of waist-to-hip ratio to health, fecundity and attractiveness. Neuro. Endocrinol. Lett. 23: 81-91.
31. Singh D, 2006. The universal allure of the hourglass figure: An evolutionary theory of female sexual attractiveness. Clin. Plast. Surg. 33: 359-370.
32. Singh D, Dixson BJ, Jessop TS, Morgan B, Dixson AF. in press. Cross-cultural consensus for waist-to-hip ratio and women's attractiveness. Evol Hum Behav.
33. Singh D, Randall P, 2007. Beauty is in the eye of the plastic surgeon: Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and women's attractiveness. Person. Indiv. Differ. 43: 329-340.
34. Sugiyama LS, 2004. Is beauty in the context-sensitive adaptations of the beholder? Shiwiar use of waist-to-hip ratio in assessments of female mate value. Evol. Hum. Behav. 25: 51-62.
35. Symons D, 1995. Beauty is in the adaptations of the beholder: The evolutionary Psychology of human female sexual attractiveness. In P. R. Abramson and S. D.Pinkerton (Eds.) Sexual nature, sexual culture (pp, 80-118). Chicago; University of Chicago Press.
36. Swami V, Capriario C, Tovée MJ, Furnham A, 2006. Female physical attractiveness in Britain and Japan: A cross-cultural study. Euro. J. Person. 20: 69-81.
37. Swami V, Furnham A, 2007. The body beautiful: Evolutionary and sociocultural perspectives. New York: Macmillan.
38. Swami V, Tovée MJ, 2005. Female physical attractiveness in Britain and Malaysia: A cross-cultural study. Body Image: 2, 115-128.
39. Thornhill R, Gangestad SW, 1996. The evolution of human sexuality. Trends.Ecol. Evol. 11: 98-102.
40. Tovée MJ, Cornelissen PL, 2001. Female and male perceptions of female physical attractiveness in front-view and profile. Brit. J. Psychol. 92: 391-402.
41. Tovée MJ, Maisey DS, Emery JL, Cornelissen PL, 1999. Visual cues to female sexual attractiveness. Proc. Roy. Soc. London. Ser. B, Biol. Sci. 266: 211-218.
42. Tovée MJ, Swami V, Furnham A, Mangalparsad R, 2006. Changing perceptions of attractiveness as observers are exposed to a different culture. Evol. Hum. Behav. 27: 443-456.
43. Van Hooff MHA, Voorhorst FJ, Kaptein MBH, Hirasing RA, Koppenaal C et al., 2000. Insulin, androgen, and gonadotropin concentrations, body mass index, and waist-to-hip ratio in the first years after menarche in girls with regular menstrual cycles, irregular menstrual cycles, or oligomenorrhea. J. Clin. Endocr. Metab. 85: 1394-1400.
44. Wass P, Waldenstrom U, Rossner S, Hellberg D, 1997. An android body fat distribution in females impairs pregnancy rate of in-vitro fertilization-embryo transfer. Hum. Reprod. 20: 219-228.
45. Wetsman A, Marlowe F, 1999. How universal are preferences for female waist-to-hip ratios? Evidence from the Hadza from Tanzania. Evol. Hum.Behav. 20: 219-228.
46. Yu DW, Shepard GH, 1998. Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? Nature 396: 321-322
47. Zaadstra B, Seidell J, Van Noord P, Te Velde E, Habbema J, Wrieswijk B, 1993. Fat and female fecundity: Prospective study of body fat distribution in conception rates. Brit. Med. J. 306: 484-487.