Preferred female body proportions among child-free men

Arch Sex Behav. 2012 Dec;41(6):1431-7. doi: 10.1007/s10508-012-9964-0. Epub 2012 May 22.

Abstract

Based on conceptual extrapolations from sociobiological models concerning the significance of secondary sex characteristics as markers of a female's capacity to produce and nurture offspring, we reasoned that men's greater unwillingness to reproduce would be linked to preference for a female body type characterized by the relative absence of such markers. Heterosexual undergraduate men (N = 67) indicated their ideal (most arousing) female body type on-line by means of an adjustable female figure. As expected, the desire to remain childfree was linked to erotic preference for a combination of smaller breasts and larger waist-to-hip ratio. Additional research into individual factors that map onto variations in the preferred body proportions of erotic targets is thus encouraged.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Beauty*
  • Choice Behavior*
  • Female
  • Heterosexuality*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Sexual Behavior*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Waist-Hip Ratio*
  • Young Adult