Does hunger influence judgments of female physical attractiveness

Bibliographic Data

ID5268317
AuthorsViren Swami (0000-0002-4866-7950, The London College, corresponding author), Martin J Tovée (0000-0001-9642-4462, Newcastle University)
Year2006
Volume97
Issue3
Pages353-363
Publication date2006-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1269 • E-ISSN: 2044-8295
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1348/000712605x80713
PMID16848948
OpenAlexW2154234819
LanguageEN
Citations received29
References cited34

To account for male preferences for female body weight following a consistent socio-economic pattern, Nelson and Morrison (2005) proposed a social-cognitive model based on the individual experience of resource scarcity. We replicated their studies showing that calorific dissatisfaction can influence preference for female body weight using a different dependent variable, namely photographic stimuli of women with known body weight and shape. Using this revised methodology, we found that operationalized intra-individual resource scarcity affects preferences for body weight: 30 hungry male participants preferred figures with a higher body weight and rated as more attractive heavier figures than 31 satiated male participants. Hungrier men were also less likely to be influenced by cues for body shape, supporting extant cross-cultural studies on female physical attractiveness. These findings corroborate those of Nelson and Morrison (2005) and are discussed in terms of how cultural contexts shape individual psychological experience as predicted by the theory of mutual constitution

Attractiveness · Body weight · Cognition · Developmental psychology · Extant taxon · Operationalization · Physical attractiveness · Preference · Scarcity · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · Cultural Differences and Values · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Psychology · Social Psychology