Sex differences in the perception of male and female body shapes

Abstract

This study set out to compare the evaluation on 16 dimensions of male and female subjects to detailed anatomical drawings of male and female stimulus figures. One hundred and thirty subjects rated 12 male and 12 female figures on 16 bipolar scales. The drawings represented figures on a range from extremely obese to extremely anorexic. Multivariate and univariate analyses yielded numerous subject sex and stimulus figure sex differences but no interactions. There was more agreement over the attractiveness of extremely thin or fat figures than moderate figures, particularly those slightly heavier than the average. Male figures were not considered as unattractive as female figures if slightly to moderately overweight (i.e. Figs 7, 8 and 9 on a 12 point scale) but there was general agreement about the unattractiveness of grossly obese figures. The results are discussed in terms of other studies in the field.