Stressed men prefer fat women

Stress makes lush women more attractive to men

09/08/2012

Although socially overweight is generally considered unattractive, stressed men tend to be attracted to luscious women. This is the conclusion of a study published in the journal "PLoS ONE" by the research team on viruses Swami from the Department of Psychology at the University of Westminster in London.

Previous studies have already suggested that "the experience of mental stress can influence the ideals of physical attractiveness," Swami and colleagues report. The aim of their study was therefore to experimentally investigate the effects of stress on the male judgment on female bodies. They found that the attractiveness of lush women for men increases with increasing stress levels. Under stress, the men clearly found fat women more attractive.

Effects of stress on the ideal of beauty
As part of their study, researchers investigating the effects of stress on the sexuality of men examined Swami. 81 European men were divided into a control group (40 subjects) and one study group (41 subjects). Both groups went through the same test, selecting the ideal figure on ten standardized photos of women's bodies. In addition, the subjects stated which thick and thin bodies they still just considered attractive. The photos presented showed female bodies that varied according to the objective scale of the body mass index (BMI) between obese (obese) and severe underweight. In the run-up to the photo evaluation, the men of the experimental group went through a stress test in which they had to speak freely before a committee and solve a math problem. Afterwards, they had a break of 20 minutes before taking the evaluation of the female body. The control group evaluated the photos without first undergoing a corresponding stress test.

Stressed men with a tendency to fat women
The result was clear. The stressed-out men were found to be significantly more attractive to heavy women, while the control subjects rated the luscious ladies as unattractive. Also, the men of the experimental group in the determination of the ideal figure or the most attractive body on average chose thicker women than the control group, so Swami and colleagues. "Further analysis showed that men in the experimental group rate significantly heavier female bodies than maximum size attractive than the control group," the researchers write in the article "The Influence of Mental Stress on Men's Judgments on the Female Body." Possible factors such as the subjects' age, weight and appetite for hunger were also taken into account by the researchers in order to avoid distortions of the results.

Lush women convey security
As a cause for the tendency of the stressed men to lush women with broad hips and female curves, the researchers see evolutionary aspects. So the bulky bodies convey a sense of security in stressful situations. The rounder female forms signal sufficient access to food, better health, and a more stable female cycle than thinner women, Swami and colleagues report. Thus, her research has indirectly confirmed the hypothesis, long known among biologists, neurologists and other experts, that people and animals in stressful situations have an increased need for safety.

Changed beauty ideal through stressful environmental conditions?
In addition, the current study shows that "human assessments of attractiveness are sensitive to variations in local ecosystems and reflect adaptive strategies in dealing with changing environmental conditions," the psychologists write. In other words, the overall stress level could have a significant impact on the ideal of men's beauty. However, given the widespread preference for so-called lean models, most men's stress may not have been high in recent years. However, developments such as the global financial crisis may help to make even fat women attractive again in the future. (Fp)

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