Blind men prefer a low waist-to-hip ratio

Authors: Johan C. KARREMANS, Willem E. FRANKENHUIS, Sander ARONS

Presenter: CUI Tianxiang

2022.09.06

Contents

  • Introduction
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Limitations

Introduction

  • Males prefer females with a low waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)
    • An indication of health and fertility
    • A biological characteristic
    • A psychological mechanism of responding to exaggerated features

Introduction

  • A cross-cultural preference for low WHR
    • In different populations: Caucasians, Hispanics, Indonesians, and Kenyans
  • WHR preferences differ between cultures
    • Local ecology (e.g., the amount of food)
    • Cultural transmission

Introduction

  • The role of visual input in the preference for low WHR
    • Visual learning: the feature of low WHR
    • Children’s observation
    • The influence of Western media

Introduction

  • What about congenitally blind men?
    • Lack the preference for low WHR (no visual experience)
    • Have a less pronounced preference for low WHR than sighted men
    • Exhibit a preference for low WHR as strong as their sighted counterparts

Methods

  • Participants and design
    • 19 congenitally blind men (27-72 years old, Mage = 46.5, SD = 14.43)
      • 2 were excluded from data analysis
    • 38 sighted men were randomly assigned
      • 19 in the sighted condition (23-69 years old, Mage = 45.4, SD = 14.90)
      • 19 in the blindfolded condition (25-68 years old, Mage = 44.5, SD = 14.75)

Methods

  • Procedure and materials
    • The experiment was conducted inside a van
    • Two female mannequin dolls
      • Identical in dressing, differ in WHR (0.70 and 0.84)
      • Similar volumes
      • BMI is a irrelavant variable

Methods

  • Procedure and materials
    • Why 0.70 and 0.84 for WHRs?
      • In Western populations, attractiveness ratings generally peak at around 0.70
      • Average female WHRs in Western populations range from 0.76 up to 0.84
      • Pilot study: normal range

Methods

  • Procedure and materials
    • The blind participants inspected the body and rated the attractiveness
      • The grade ranges from 1 to 10, with 10 representing very attractive and 1 very unattractive
    • Participants in the sighted condition
      • Looked at the bodies and rate their attractiveness

Methods

  • Procedure and materials
    • Participants in the blindfolded condition
      • The same procedure as the blind participants

Results

  • ANOVA
    • The within-participants variable: the ratings for the two bodies with the different WHRs (0.70 and 0.84)
    • Between-participants variables: group (blind, sighted, and blindfolded) and order of rating (first 0.70 versus first 0.84)

Results

  • ANOVA
    • A significant main effect of WHR (participants overall preferred a lower WHR)
    • No other significant effects (main effects of group, interactions of WHR with group, WHR with order, and the The three-way interaction between WHR, order, and group)

Results

  • Paired t tests within each group: significant effects of WHR

    • Blind group, d = 0.68
    • Sighted group, d = 1.33
    • Blindfolded group, d = 0.54

Results

image

Discussion

  • Visual input is not necessary for low WHR preferences
  • Visual input may have strengthened this preference among sighted men
  • Why do blind men develop a preference for low WHRs?
    • Verbal information
    • Generic psychological mechanisms / Prototypical stimuli
    • Intrinsic factors

Limitations

  • Not feasible to examine preferences of blind and sighted men for a larger number of WHRs
  • Did not systematically manipulate some variables
    • Hip size, waist size, and weight

Thank you for your listening!