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Abstract
The judgment of female body appearance has been reported to be affected by a range of internal (e.g., viewers' sexual cognition) and external factors (e.g., viewed clothing type and colour). This eye-tracking study aimed to complement previous research by examining the effect of facial expression on female body perception and associated body-viewing gaze behaviour. We presented female body images of Caucasian avatars in a continuum of common dress sizes posing seven basic facial expressions (neutral, happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust), and asked both male and female participants to rate the perceived body attractiveness and body size. The analysis revealed an evident modulatory role of avatar facial expressions on body attractiveness and body size ratings, but not on the amount of viewing time directed at individual body features. Specifically, happy and angry avatars attracted the highest and lowest body attractiveness ratings, respectively, and fearful and surprised avatars tended to be rated slimmer. Interestingly, the impact of facial expression on female body assessment was not further influenced by viewers' gender, suggesting a 'universal' role of common facial expressions in modifying the perception of female body appearance.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Kun Guo
- Kun Guo, School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, LN6 7TS, UK.
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2
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Lei X, Perrett D. Thinner bodies are preferred in China compared to Britain but are not seen as healthier. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-03803-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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3
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Seeking important people and taking revenge: network and IRT analysis of the Short Dark Triad (SD3). CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-02969-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Zinck MJ, Weir LK, Fisher ML. Dependents as Signals of Mate Value: Long-term Mating Strategy Predicts Displays on Online Dating Profiles for Men. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2021; 8:174-188. [PMID: 34660178 PMCID: PMC8500826 DOI: 10.1007/s40806-021-00294-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2021] [Revised: 07/01/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Sexual strategies theory indicates women prefer mates who show the ability and willingness to invest in a long-term mate due to asymmetries in obligate parental care of children. Consequently, women's potential mates must show they can provide investment - especially when women are seeking a long-term mate. Investment may be exhibited through financial and social status, and the ability to care for a mate and any resulting offspring. Men who care for children and pets (hereafter "dependents") are perceived as high-quality mates, given that dependents signal an ability to invest; however, no studies have examined how dependents are associated with short-term and long-term mating strategies. Here, online dating profiles were used to test the predictions that an interactive effect between sex and mating strategy will predict displays of dependents, with long-term mating strategy predicting for men but not women. Moreover, this pattern should hold for all dependent types and, due to relative asymmetries in required investment, differences will be strongest regarding displays of children and least in non-canine pets. As expected, men seeking long-term mates displayed dependents more than men seeking short-term mates, but both men and women seeking long-term mates displayed dependents similarly. This pattern was driven mostly by canines. These findings indicate that men adopting a long-term mating strategy display their investment capabilities more compared to those seeking short-term mates, which may be used to signal their mate value.
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Burtăverde V, Ene C. The influence of environmental and social characteristics on women's mate preferences. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.110736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Burtaverde V. Women high on the Dark Triad traits are more attracted to narcissistic males if they are oriented to long term mating and had fewer experiences with unfaithful men. PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.110627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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7
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Abstract
AbstractPrevious research has found that when faced with dangerous environments, women may have an evolved preference for physically strong and aggressive men. This phenomenon has been named as the Bodyguard hypothesis. The aim of the present studies was to explore whether the same principle exists in non-romantic male friend selection. In Study 1, (n = 118), an on-line sample of British women was assessed for objective crime rates in their childhood and current environment, subjective vulnerability to crime, and preference for aggressive and formidable opposite-sex friends. Women’s subjective fear of crime predicted their preference for aggressive-formidable ideal male friends, as well as aggressive-formidable actual male friends. In Study 2 (n = 228), an internet sample of both sexes was assessed for their subjective fear of crime, as well as their preference for aggressive-formidability and other characteristics in same and opposite-sex friends. Fear of crime was not correlated with characteristics (intelligence, funniness, kindness) that were unrelated to aggressive-formidability. There was a small positive correlation between fear of crime and preference for aggressive-formidable friends in both sexes. The correlation between fear of crime and preference for ideal male friend’s aggression-formidability was the only statistically significant one, and none of the correlations differed significantly from each other. Together, these two studies provide some tentative evidence for the Bodyguard hypothesis in preferred friendship characteristics. Environmental influence on friendship selection is an under-investigated area of research, benefiting from future research replicating the methodology from studies on romantic partner characteristics.
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Saxton TK, McCarty K, Caizley J, McCarrick D, Pollet TV. Hungry people prefer larger bodies and objects: The importance of testing boundary effects. Br J Psychol 2019; 111:492-507. [PMID: 31373691 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2019] [Revised: 06/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Several lab-based studies have indicated that when people are hungry, they judge larger women's bodies as more attractive, compared to when they are satiated. These satiety-dependent judgements are assumed to provide explanatory power when it comes to the noted cross-cultural differences in attitudes towards women's adiposity, whereby people who live in regions that are under greater nutritional stress tend to have more favourable attitudes towards bigger bodies. However, it is premature to assume that women's bodies are the proper or actual domain of the satiety-dependent judgement shifts found within research study testing contexts until stimuli other than female bodies have also been tested: The research programme falls into the trap of confirmation bias unless we also seek out disconfirmatory evidence and test the boundaries of the effects of hunger. Accordingly, we collected attractiveness judgements of female and male bodies manipulated to vary in size by varying level of adiposity, and objects manipulated to vary in size, from 186 participants who also reported their current hunger level. We found that larger sizes of stimuli in general, and women's bodies in particular, especially when judged by women, were judged as more attractive by the hungrier participants. We discuss these patterns in the context of the Insurance Hypothesis, the Environmental Security Hypothesis, and the impact of hunger on acquisition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamsin K Saxton
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Kristofor McCarty
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Jasmine Caizley
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Dane McCarrick
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
| | - Thomas V Pollet
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Rodway V, Tatham B, Guo K. Effect of model race and viewing perspective on body attractiveness and body size assessment in young Caucasian women: an eye-tracking study. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2018; 83:347-356. [PMID: 30554329 PMCID: PMC6434025 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-018-1138-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Accepted: 12/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Research has indicated that Caucasian women gaze more often at waist–hip and chest regions than other local body areas when assessing female body attractiveness and body size, and this stereotypical gaze distribution is further modulated by their own body satisfaction and body composition. However, little is known whether the model race and viewing perspective could affect women’s body-viewing gaze behaviour and body perception. Here, we presented female body images of Caucasian, Asian and African avatars in a continuum of common dress sizes in full frontal, mid-profile and rear view, and asked young Caucasian women to rate the perceived body attractiveness and body size. Their body-viewing gaze distributions were then correlated with their behavioural responses, their own body composition and body satisfaction. Our analysis revealed a clear in-group favouritism, in which Caucasian women tended to rate Caucasian avatars more attractive and slimmer than Asian and African avatars. Their body-viewing gaze patterns, on the other hand, were not affected by avatar race but were modulated by viewing perspectives. The frontal-view body (especially upper-body and waist–hip regions) attracted the highest proportion of viewing time, followed by the mid-profile view and then the rear-view body. Furthermore, our participants’ own body composition and satisfaction level did not affect their judgement of other women’s body attractiveness and body size, but could influence their gaze allocation at local body features. It seems that both body perception and body-viewing gaze behaviour are subject to group and individual biases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victoria Rodway
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, LN6 7TS, UK
| | - Bethany Tatham
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, LN6 7TS, UK
| | - Kun Guo
- School of Psychology, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, LN6 7TS, UK.
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Environmental Safety Threat Alters Mate Choice Processes in Humans: Further Evidence for the Environmental Security Hypothesis. EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s40806-018-0177-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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11
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Nutritional status and the influence of TV consumption on female body size ideals in populations recently exposed to the media. Sci Rep 2017; 7:8438. [PMID: 28814743 PMCID: PMC5559456 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-08653-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2017] [Accepted: 07/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Television consumption influences perceptions of attractive female body size. However, cross-cultural research examining media influence on body ideals is typically confounded by differences in the availability of reliable and diverse foodstuffs. 112 participants were recruited from 3 Nicaraguan villages that differed in television consumption and nutritional status, such that the contribution of both factors could be revealed. Participants completed a female figure preference task, reported their television consumption, and responded to several measures assessing nutritional status. Communities with higher television consumption and/or higher nutritional status preferred thinner female bodies than communities with lower television consumption and/or lower nutritional status. Bayesian mixed models estimated the plausible range of effects for television consumption, nutritional status, and other relevant variables on individual preferences. The model explained all meaningful differences between our low-nutrition villages, and television consumption, after sex, was the most likely of these predictors to contribute to variation in preferences (probability mass >95% when modelling only variables with zero-order associations with preferences, but only 90% when modelling all possible predictors). In contrast, we found no likely link with nutritional status. We thus found evidence that where media access and nutritional status are confounded, media is the more likely predictor of body ideals.
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