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Secular changes in standards of bodily attractiveness in women: tests of a reproductive model
1Department of Psychology, Birmingham Southern College, AL 35254, USA.
Objective:
Since success at work is favored by a more slender body build while reproduction is favored by curvaceousness, standards of women's bodily attractiveness should be predictable from economic and reproductive variables.
Methods:
This hypothesis was tested in a replication and extension of a study by Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson, Vogel, and Fantini (1986) which looked at correlates of curvaceousness of Vogue models over time.
Results:
As economic prosperity increased, and as women's participation in the economy, and higher education, increased, curvaceousness of the standards declined. As the proportion of single women to men, both aged 20-24 years, increased, and as the birth rate declined, curvaceousness was reduced.
Discussion:
Results suggest that cultural standards of attractiveness are influenced by an evolved psychology of mate selection.