Blind men prefer a low waist-to-hip ratio

Research summary: Karrenmans et al. (2010), 'Blind men prefer a low waist-to-hip ratio', Evolution and Human Behavior, 31 (May): 182-186

Previous studies suggest that heterosexual men in Western societies are attracted to low female waist-to-hip ratios (WHR), which may be a pattern replicated cross-culturally, although evidence is complex and suggests the interaction of multiple factors in determining this preference. Men's low WHR preference has often been explained non-evolutionarily, with reference to visual influence, particularly from media ideals of female beauty. Adaptive explanations however propose that low female WHR indicated health and fertility across our evolutionary history and thus selection favoured cognitive adaptations in males that facilitate this preference. Indeed, there is evidence that low WHRs may be associated with health and fertility in females from some populations (see Singh and Randall 2007). A possible mechanism for the connection between WHR and fertility could involve the negative effect of upper-body fat on the supply of long-chain polyunstaturated fatty acids crucial for neurological development (Lassek and Gaulin 2008). It has also been suggested that the male preference for low WHRs could be a by-prodict of other preferences, such as one for generally exaggerated features.

This study adds support to the adaptive theories by showing that the preference exists also in heterosexual men who have been blind since birth. A small sample of (19) blind men reported their preferences by assessing two identical mannequins by touch, adjusted only for WHR. 38 sighted men also participated and were divided into blindfolded and non-blindfolded groups. Statistical analysis showed that the low WHR was the only significant predictor of preference choice across the groups, although the preferences were strongest for the sighted, unblindfolded group, followed by the sighted, blindfolded group, and finally the blind group, suggesting that visual input is also important.

Further reading:

W.D. Lassek and S.J.C. Gaulin, Waist-to-hip and cognitive ability: Is gluteofemoral fat a privileged store of neurodevelopmental resources?, Evolution and Human Behavior 29 (2008), pp. 26–34.

Singh & Randall, 2007 D. Singh and P.K. Randall, Beauty is in the eye of the plastic surgeon: Waist-hip ratio (WHR) and women's attractiveness, Personality and Individual Differences 43 (2007), pp. 329–340.