The Body and the Beautiful: Health, Attractiveness and Body Composition in Men's and Women's Bodies
The dominant evolutionary theory of physical attraction posits that attractiveness reflects physiological health, and attraction is a mechanism for identifying a healthy mate. Previous studies have found that perceptions of the healthiest body mass index (weight scaled for height; BMI) for women are...
Gespeichert in:
| Veröffentlicht in: | PloS one 2016-06, Vol.11 (6), p.e0156722-e0156722 |
|---|---|
| Hauptverfasser: | , , , , |
| Format: | Artikel |
| Sprache: | eng |
| Schlagworte: | |
| Online-Zugang: | Volltext |
| Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
| container_end_page | e0156722 |
|---|---|
| container_issue | 6 |
| container_start_page | e0156722 |
| container_title | PloS one |
| container_volume | 11 |
| creator | Brierley, Mary-Ellen Brooks, Kevin R Mond, Jonathan Stevenson, Richard J Stephen, Ian D |
| description | The dominant evolutionary theory of physical attraction posits that attractiveness reflects physiological health, and attraction is a mechanism for identifying a healthy mate. Previous studies have found that perceptions of the healthiest body mass index (weight scaled for height; BMI) for women are close to healthy BMI guidelines, while the most attractive BMI is significantly lower, possibly pointing to an influence of sociocultural factors in determining attractive BMI. However, less is known about ideal body size for men. Further, research has not addressed the role of body fat and muscle, which have distinct relationships with health and are conflated in BMI, in determining perceived health and attractiveness. Here, we hypothesised that, if attractiveness reflects physiological health, the most attractive and healthy appearing body composition should be in line with physiologically healthy body composition. Thirty female and 33 male observers were instructed to manipulate 15 female and 15 male body images in terms of their fat and muscle to optimise perceived health and, separately, attractiveness. Observers were unaware that they were manipulating the muscle and fat content of bodies. The most attractive apparent fat mass for female bodies was significantly lower than the healthiest appearing fat mass (and was lower than the physiologically healthy range), with no significant difference for muscle mass. The optimal fat and muscle mass for men's bodies was in line with the healthy range. Male observers preferred a significantly lower overall male body mass than did female observers. While the body fat and muscle associated with healthy and attractive appearance is broadly in line with physiologically healthy values, deviations from this pattern suggest that future research should examine a possible role for internalization of body ideals in influencing perceptions of attractive body composition, particularly in women. |
| doi_str_mv | 10.1371/journal.pone.0156722 |
| format | Article |
| fullrecord | <record><control><sourceid>gale_plos_</sourceid><recordid>TN_cdi_plos_journals_1793753314</recordid><sourceformat>XML</sourceformat><sourcesystem>PC</sourcesystem><galeid>A454205510</galeid><doaj_id>oai_doaj_org_article_bb40702d89dc42029760433abdc14df1</doaj_id><sourcerecordid>A454205510</sourcerecordid><originalsourceid>FETCH-LOGICAL-c725t-7ab5ac8e0cb609ee7f6c99dcf63a993cdedc3157840bb734c0bbc2946f03f6e33</originalsourceid><addsrcrecordid>eNqNk1uL1DAUx4so7rr6DUQLC17AGXNr0vggjIO6AysLuupjSNN0JkObjE26uN_etNNdprKg5CG33__k5FyS5CkEc4gZfLt1XWtlPd85q-cAZpQhdC85hhyjGUUA3z9YHyWPvN8CkOGc0ofJEWIoY5Sx40RdbnT6wZXXqbRlGvqNll0wVVe_S8-0rMPmTboIoZUqmCtttfcDOUiWrtk5b4JxNjU2_aLty_3tT9cM60gZ7R8nDypZe_1knE-S758-Xi7PZucXn1fLxflMRXfCjMkikyrXQBUUcK1ZRRXnpaoolpxjVepSYZixnICiYJioOCnECa0ArqjG-CR5vre7q50XY3y8gIxjlmEMSSRWe6J0cit2rWlkey2cNGI4cO1ayDYYVWtRFAQwgMo8ekAQQJxRQDCWRakgKSsYbb0fX-uKJrqmbQxSPTE6vbFmI9buSpCcI8p6Z16NBlr3q9M-iMZ4petaWu266HcOcoZIjvC_UcYJYQhmKKKnf6F3B2Kk1jL-1djK9RnujYoFyeJ_swyCSM3voOIodWNUrLvKxPOJ4PVEEJmgf4e17LwXq29f_5-9-DFlXxywm6Esvau7vvL8FCR7ULXO-1ZXt_mAQPRtcxMN0beNGNsmyp4d5vJWdNMn-A8gsRB7</addsrcrecordid><sourcetype>Open Website</sourcetype><iscdi>true</iscdi><recordtype>article</recordtype><pqid>1793753314</pqid></control><display><type>article</type><title>The Body and the Beautiful: Health, Attractiveness and Body Composition in Men's and Women's Bodies</title><source>MEDLINE</source><source>DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals</source><source>Public Library of Science (PLoS) Journals Open Access</source><source>EZB-FREE-00999 freely available EZB journals</source><source>PubMed Central</source><source>Free Full-Text Journals in Chemistry</source><creator>Brierley, Mary-Ellen ; Brooks, Kevin R ; Mond, Jonathan ; Stevenson, Richard J ; Stephen, Ian D</creator><contributor>Urgesi, Cosimo</contributor><creatorcontrib>Brierley, Mary-Ellen ; Brooks, Kevin R ; Mond, Jonathan ; Stevenson, Richard J ; Stephen, Ian D ; Urgesi, Cosimo</creatorcontrib><description>The dominant evolutionary theory of physical attraction posits that attractiveness reflects physiological health, and attraction is a mechanism for identifying a healthy mate. Previous studies have found that perceptions of the healthiest body mass index (weight scaled for height; BMI) for women are close to healthy BMI guidelines, while the most attractive BMI is significantly lower, possibly pointing to an influence of sociocultural factors in determining attractive BMI. However, less is known about ideal body size for men. Further, research has not addressed the role of body fat and muscle, which have distinct relationships with health and are conflated in BMI, in determining perceived health and attractiveness. Here, we hypothesised that, if attractiveness reflects physiological health, the most attractive and healthy appearing body composition should be in line with physiologically healthy body composition. Thirty female and 33 male observers were instructed to manipulate 15 female and 15 male body images in terms of their fat and muscle to optimise perceived health and, separately, attractiveness. Observers were unaware that they were manipulating the muscle and fat content of bodies. The most attractive apparent fat mass for female bodies was significantly lower than the healthiest appearing fat mass (and was lower than the physiologically healthy range), with no significant difference for muscle mass. The optimal fat and muscle mass for men's bodies was in line with the healthy range. Male observers preferred a significantly lower overall male body mass than did female observers. While the body fat and muscle associated with healthy and attractive appearance is broadly in line with physiologically healthy values, deviations from this pattern suggest that future research should examine a possible role for internalization of body ideals in influencing perceptions of attractive body composition, particularly in women.</description><identifier>ISSN: 1932-6203</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 1932-6203</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156722</identifier><identifier>PMID: 27257677</identifier><language>eng</language><publisher>United States: Public Library of Science</publisher><subject>Adolescent ; Adult ; Analysis ; Anorexia ; Attraction ; Attraction effect ; Beauty ; Biology and Life Sciences ; Body Composition ; Body fat ; Body Image ; Body mass ; Body Mass Index ; Body Size ; Body Weight ; Choice Behavior ; Female ; Gender differences ; Health ; Human Body ; Humans ; Image manipulation ; Internalization ; Judgment ; Male ; Medicine and Health Sciences ; Men ; Muscles ; Observer Variation ; Observers ; Optimization ; Perceptions ; Physiological aspects ; Physiology ; Psychology ; Research and Analysis Methods ; Self image ; Sex Factors ; Women's health ; Womens health ; Young Adult</subject><ispartof>PloS one, 2016-06, Vol.11 (6), p.e0156722-e0156722</ispartof><rights>COPYRIGHT 2016 Public Library of Science</rights><rights>2016 Brierley et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.</rights><rights>2016 Brierley et al 2016 Brierley et al</rights><lds50>peer_reviewed</lds50><oa>free_for_read</oa><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed><citedby>FETCH-LOGICAL-c725t-7ab5ac8e0cb609ee7f6c99dcf63a993cdedc3157840bb734c0bbc2946f03f6e33</citedby><cites>FETCH-LOGICAL-c725t-7ab5ac8e0cb609ee7f6c99dcf63a993cdedc3157840bb734c0bbc2946f03f6e33</cites><orcidid>0000-0001-9714-8295</orcidid></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Tsyndetics_thumb_exl</thumbnail><linktopdf>$$Uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4892674/pdf/$$EPDF$$P50$$Gpubmedcentral$$Hfree_for_read</linktopdf><linktohtml>$$Uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4892674/$$EHTML$$P50$$Gpubmedcentral$$Hfree_for_read</linktohtml><link.rule.ids>230,314,727,780,784,864,885,2102,2928,23866,27924,27925,53791,53793,79600,79601</link.rule.ids><backlink>$$Uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27257677$$D View this record in MEDLINE/PubMed$$Hfree_for_read</backlink></links><search><contributor>Urgesi, Cosimo</contributor><creatorcontrib>Brierley, Mary-Ellen</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Brooks, Kevin R</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Mond, Jonathan</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Stevenson, Richard J</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Stephen, Ian D</creatorcontrib><title>The Body and the Beautiful: Health, Attractiveness and Body Composition in Men's and Women's Bodies</title><title>PloS one</title><addtitle>PLoS One</addtitle><description>The dominant evolutionary theory of physical attraction posits that attractiveness reflects physiological health, and attraction is a mechanism for identifying a healthy mate. Previous studies have found that perceptions of the healthiest body mass index (weight scaled for height; BMI) for women are close to healthy BMI guidelines, while the most attractive BMI is significantly lower, possibly pointing to an influence of sociocultural factors in determining attractive BMI. However, less is known about ideal body size for men. Further, research has not addressed the role of body fat and muscle, which have distinct relationships with health and are conflated in BMI, in determining perceived health and attractiveness. Here, we hypothesised that, if attractiveness reflects physiological health, the most attractive and healthy appearing body composition should be in line with physiologically healthy body composition. Thirty female and 33 male observers were instructed to manipulate 15 female and 15 male body images in terms of their fat and muscle to optimise perceived health and, separately, attractiveness. Observers were unaware that they were manipulating the muscle and fat content of bodies. The most attractive apparent fat mass for female bodies was significantly lower than the healthiest appearing fat mass (and was lower than the physiologically healthy range), with no significant difference for muscle mass. The optimal fat and muscle mass for men's bodies was in line with the healthy range. Male observers preferred a significantly lower overall male body mass than did female observers. While the body fat and muscle associated with healthy and attractive appearance is broadly in line with physiologically healthy values, deviations from this pattern suggest that future research should examine a possible role for internalization of body ideals in influencing perceptions of attractive body composition, particularly in women.</description><subject>Adolescent</subject><subject>Adult</subject><subject>Analysis</subject><subject>Anorexia</subject><subject>Attraction</subject><subject>Attraction effect</subject><subject>Beauty</subject><subject>Biology and Life Sciences</subject><subject>Body Composition</subject><subject>Body fat</subject><subject>Body Image</subject><subject>Body mass</subject><subject>Body Mass Index</subject><subject>Body Size</subject><subject>Body Weight</subject><subject>Choice Behavior</subject><subject>Female</subject><subject>Gender differences</subject><subject>Health</subject><subject>Human Body</subject><subject>Humans</subject><subject>Image manipulation</subject><subject>Internalization</subject><subject>Judgment</subject><subject>Male</subject><subject>Medicine and Health Sciences</subject><subject>Men</subject><subject>Muscles</subject><subject>Observer Variation</subject><subject>Observers</subject><subject>Optimization</subject><subject>Perceptions</subject><subject>Physiological aspects</subject><subject>Physiology</subject><subject>Psychology</subject><subject>Research and Analysis Methods</subject><subject>Self image</subject><subject>Sex Factors</subject><subject>Women's health</subject><subject>Womens health</subject><subject>Young Adult</subject><issn>1932-6203</issn><issn>1932-6203</issn><fulltext>true</fulltext><rsrctype>article</rsrctype><creationdate>2016</creationdate><recordtype>article</recordtype><sourceid>EIF</sourceid><sourceid>ABUWG</sourceid><sourceid>AFKRA</sourceid><sourceid>AZQEC</sourceid><sourceid>BENPR</sourceid><sourceid>CCPQU</sourceid><sourceid>DWQXO</sourceid><sourceid>GNUQQ</sourceid><sourceid>DOA</sourceid><recordid>eNqNk1uL1DAUx4so7rr6DUQLC17AGXNr0vggjIO6AysLuupjSNN0JkObjE26uN_etNNdprKg5CG33__k5FyS5CkEc4gZfLt1XWtlPd85q-cAZpQhdC85hhyjGUUA3z9YHyWPvN8CkOGc0ofJEWIoY5Sx40RdbnT6wZXXqbRlGvqNll0wVVe_S8-0rMPmTboIoZUqmCtttfcDOUiWrtk5b4JxNjU2_aLty_3tT9cM60gZ7R8nDypZe_1knE-S758-Xi7PZucXn1fLxflMRXfCjMkikyrXQBUUcK1ZRRXnpaoolpxjVepSYZixnICiYJioOCnECa0ArqjG-CR5vre7q50XY3y8gIxjlmEMSSRWe6J0cit2rWlkey2cNGI4cO1ayDYYVWtRFAQwgMo8ekAQQJxRQDCWRakgKSsYbb0fX-uKJrqmbQxSPTE6vbFmI9buSpCcI8p6Z16NBlr3q9M-iMZ4petaWu266HcOcoZIjvC_UcYJYQhmKKKnf6F3B2Kk1jL-1djK9RnujYoFyeJ_swyCSM3voOIodWNUrLvKxPOJ4PVEEJmgf4e17LwXq29f_5-9-DFlXxywm6Esvau7vvL8FCR7ULXO-1ZXt_mAQPRtcxMN0beNGNsmyp4d5vJWdNMn-A8gsRB7</recordid><startdate>20160603</startdate><enddate>20160603</enddate><creator>Brierley, Mary-Ellen</creator><creator>Brooks, Kevin R</creator><creator>Mond, Jonathan</creator><creator>Stevenson, Richard J</creator><creator>Stephen, Ian D</creator><general>Public Library of Science</general><general>Public Library of Science (PLoS)</general><scope>CGR</scope><scope>CUY</scope><scope>CVF</scope><scope>ECM</scope><scope>EIF</scope><scope>NPM</scope><scope>AAYXX</scope><scope>CITATION</scope><scope>IOV</scope><scope>ISR</scope><scope>3V.</scope><scope>7QG</scope><scope>7QL</scope><scope>7QO</scope><scope>7RV</scope><scope>7SN</scope><scope>7SS</scope><scope>7T5</scope><scope>7TG</scope><scope>7TM</scope><scope>7U9</scope><scope>7X2</scope><scope>7X7</scope><scope>7XB</scope><scope>88E</scope><scope>8AO</scope><scope>8C1</scope><scope>8FD</scope><scope>8FE</scope><scope>8FG</scope><scope>8FH</scope><scope>8FI</scope><scope>8FJ</scope><scope>8FK</scope><scope>ABJCF</scope><scope>ABUWG</scope><scope>AFKRA</scope><scope>ARAPS</scope><scope>ATCPS</scope><scope>AZQEC</scope><scope>BBNVY</scope><scope>BENPR</scope><scope>BGLVJ</scope><scope>BHPHI</scope><scope>C1K</scope><scope>CCPQU</scope><scope>D1I</scope><scope>DWQXO</scope><scope>FR3</scope><scope>FYUFA</scope><scope>GHDGH</scope><scope>GNUQQ</scope><scope>H94</scope><scope>HCIFZ</scope><scope>K9.</scope><scope>KB.</scope><scope>KB0</scope><scope>KL.</scope><scope>L6V</scope><scope>LK8</scope><scope>M0K</scope><scope>M0S</scope><scope>M1P</scope><scope>M7N</scope><scope>M7P</scope><scope>M7S</scope><scope>NAPCQ</scope><scope>P5Z</scope><scope>P62</scope><scope>P64</scope><scope>PATMY</scope><scope>PDBOC</scope><scope>PIMPY</scope><scope>PQEST</scope><scope>PQQKQ</scope><scope>PQUKI</scope><scope>PTHSS</scope><scope>PYCSY</scope><scope>RC3</scope><scope>7X8</scope><scope>5PM</scope><scope>DOA</scope><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9714-8295</orcidid></search><sort><creationdate>20160603</creationdate><title>The Body and the Beautiful: Health, Attractiveness and Body Composition in Men's and Women's Bodies</title><author>Brierley, Mary-Ellen ; Brooks, Kevin R ; Mond, Jonathan ; Stevenson, Richard J ; Stephen, Ian D</author></sort><facets><frbrtype>5</frbrtype><frbrgroupid>cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c725t-7ab5ac8e0cb609ee7f6c99dcf63a993cdedc3157840bb734c0bbc2946f03f6e33</frbrgroupid><rsrctype>articles</rsrctype><prefilter>articles</prefilter><language>eng</language><creationdate>2016</creationdate><topic>Adolescent</topic><topic>Adult</topic><topic>Analysis</topic><topic>Anorexia</topic><topic>Attraction</topic><topic>Attraction effect</topic><topic>Beauty</topic><topic>Biology and Life Sciences</topic><topic>Body Composition</topic><topic>Body fat</topic><topic>Body Image</topic><topic>Body mass</topic><topic>Body Mass Index</topic><topic>Body Size</topic><topic>Body Weight</topic><topic>Choice Behavior</topic><topic>Female</topic><topic>Gender differences</topic><topic>Health</topic><topic>Human Body</topic><topic>Humans</topic><topic>Image manipulation</topic><topic>Internalization</topic><topic>Judgment</topic><topic>Male</topic><topic>Medicine and Health Sciences</topic><topic>Men</topic><topic>Muscles</topic><topic>Observer Variation</topic><topic>Observers</topic><topic>Optimization</topic><topic>Perceptions</topic><topic>Physiological aspects</topic><topic>Physiology</topic><topic>Psychology</topic><topic>Research and Analysis Methods</topic><topic>Self image</topic><topic>Sex Factors</topic><topic>Women's health</topic><topic>Womens health</topic><topic>Young Adult</topic><toplevel>peer_reviewed</toplevel><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Brierley, Mary-Ellen</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Brooks, Kevin R</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Mond, Jonathan</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Stevenson, Richard J</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Stephen, Ian D</creatorcontrib><collection>Medline</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>MEDLINE (Ovid)</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>MEDLINE</collection><collection>PubMed</collection><collection>CrossRef</collection><collection>Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints</collection><collection>Gale In Context: Science</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Corporate)</collection><collection>Animal Behavior Abstracts</collection><collection>Bacteriology Abstracts (Microbiology B)</collection><collection>Biotechnology Research Abstracts</collection><collection>Nursing & Allied Health Database</collection><collection>Ecology Abstracts</collection><collection>Entomology Abstracts (Full archive)</collection><collection>Immunology Abstracts</collection><collection>Meteorological & Geoastrophysical Abstracts</collection><collection>Nucleic Acids Abstracts</collection><collection>Virology and AIDS Abstracts</collection><collection>Agricultural Science Collection</collection><collection>Health & Medical Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (purchase pre-March 2016)</collection><collection>Medical Database (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Pharma Collection</collection><collection>Public Health Database</collection><collection>Technology Research Database</collection><collection>ProQuest SciTech Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Technology Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Natural Science Collection</collection><collection>Hospital Premium Collection</collection><collection>Hospital Premium Collection (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Alumni) (purchase pre-March 2016)</collection><collection>Materials Science & Engineering Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central UK/Ireland</collection><collection>Advanced Technologies & Aerospace Collection</collection><collection>Agricultural & Environmental Science Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Essentials</collection><collection>Biological Science Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central</collection><collection>Technology Collection</collection><collection>Natural Science Collection</collection><collection>Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management</collection><collection>ProQuest One Community College</collection><collection>ProQuest Materials Science Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Korea</collection><collection>Engineering Research Database</collection><collection>Health Research Premium Collection</collection><collection>Health Research Premium Collection (Alumni)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Student</collection><collection>AIDS and Cancer Research Abstracts</collection><collection>SciTech Premium Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Health & Medical Complete (Alumni)</collection><collection>Materials Science Database</collection><collection>Nursing & Allied Health Database (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>Meteorological & Geoastrophysical Abstracts - Academic</collection><collection>ProQuest Engineering Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Biological Science Collection</collection><collection>Agricultural Science Database</collection><collection>Health & Medical Collection (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>Medical Database</collection><collection>Algology Mycology and Protozoology Abstracts (Microbiology C)</collection><collection>Biological Science Database</collection><collection>Engineering Database</collection><collection>Nursing & Allied Health Premium</collection><collection>Advanced Technologies & Aerospace Database</collection><collection>ProQuest Advanced Technologies & Aerospace Collection</collection><collection>Biotechnology and BioEngineering Abstracts</collection><collection>Environmental Science Database</collection><collection>Materials Science Collection</collection><collection>Access via ProQuest (Open Access)</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic Eastern Edition (DO NOT USE)</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic UKI Edition</collection><collection>Engineering Collection</collection><collection>Environmental Science Collection</collection><collection>Genetics Abstracts</collection><collection>MEDLINE - Academic</collection><collection>PubMed Central (Full Participant titles)</collection><collection>DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals</collection><jtitle>PloS one</jtitle></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Brierley, Mary-Ellen</au><au>Brooks, Kevin R</au><au>Mond, Jonathan</au><au>Stevenson, Richard J</au><au>Stephen, Ian D</au><au>Urgesi, Cosimo</au><format>journal</format><genre>article</genre><ristype>JOUR</ristype><atitle>The Body and the Beautiful: Health, Attractiveness and Body Composition in Men's and Women's Bodies</atitle><jtitle>PloS one</jtitle><addtitle>PLoS One</addtitle><date>2016-06-03</date><risdate>2016</risdate><volume>11</volume><issue>6</issue><spage>e0156722</spage><epage>e0156722</epage><pages>e0156722-e0156722</pages><issn>1932-6203</issn><eissn>1932-6203</eissn><abstract>The dominant evolutionary theory of physical attraction posits that attractiveness reflects physiological health, and attraction is a mechanism for identifying a healthy mate. Previous studies have found that perceptions of the healthiest body mass index (weight scaled for height; BMI) for women are close to healthy BMI guidelines, while the most attractive BMI is significantly lower, possibly pointing to an influence of sociocultural factors in determining attractive BMI. However, less is known about ideal body size for men. Further, research has not addressed the role of body fat and muscle, which have distinct relationships with health and are conflated in BMI, in determining perceived health and attractiveness. Here, we hypothesised that, if attractiveness reflects physiological health, the most attractive and healthy appearing body composition should be in line with physiologically healthy body composition. Thirty female and 33 male observers were instructed to manipulate 15 female and 15 male body images in terms of their fat and muscle to optimise perceived health and, separately, attractiveness. Observers were unaware that they were manipulating the muscle and fat content of bodies. The most attractive apparent fat mass for female bodies was significantly lower than the healthiest appearing fat mass (and was lower than the physiologically healthy range), with no significant difference for muscle mass. The optimal fat and muscle mass for men's bodies was in line with the healthy range. Male observers preferred a significantly lower overall male body mass than did female observers. While the body fat and muscle associated with healthy and attractive appearance is broadly in line with physiologically healthy values, deviations from this pattern suggest that future research should examine a possible role for internalization of body ideals in influencing perceptions of attractive body composition, particularly in women.</abstract><cop>United States</cop><pub>Public Library of Science</pub><pmid>27257677</pmid><doi>10.1371/journal.pone.0156722</doi><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9714-8295</orcidid><oa>free_for_read</oa></addata></record> |
| fulltext | fulltext |
| identifier | ISSN: 1932-6203 |
| ispartof | PloS one, 2016-06, Vol.11 (6), p.e0156722-e0156722 |
| issn | 1932-6203 1932-6203 |
| language | eng |
| recordid | cdi_plos_journals_1793753314 |
| source | MEDLINE; DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals; Public Library of Science (PLoS) Journals Open Access; EZB-FREE-00999 freely available EZB journals; PubMed Central; Free Full-Text Journals in Chemistry |
| subjects | Adolescent Adult Analysis Anorexia Attraction Attraction effect Beauty Biology and Life Sciences Body Composition Body fat Body Image Body mass Body Mass Index Body Size Body Weight Choice Behavior Female Gender differences Health Human Body Humans Image manipulation Internalization Judgment Male Medicine and Health Sciences Men Muscles Observer Variation Observers Optimization Perceptions Physiological aspects Physiology Psychology Research and Analysis Methods Self image Sex Factors Women's health Womens health Young Adult |
| title | The Body and the Beautiful: Health, Attractiveness and Body Composition in Men's and Women's Bodies |
| url | https://sfx.bib-bvb.de/sfx_tum?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2025-01-02T22%3A14%3A23IST&url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Article-gale_plos_&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=The%20Body%20and%20the%20Beautiful:%20Health,%20Attractiveness%20and%20Body%20Composition%20in%20Men's%20and%20Women's%20Bodies&rft.jtitle=PloS%20one&rft.au=Brierley,%20Mary-Ellen&rft.date=2016-06-03&rft.volume=11&rft.issue=6&rft.spage=e0156722&rft.epage=e0156722&rft.pages=e0156722-e0156722&rft.issn=1932-6203&rft.eissn=1932-6203&rft_id=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0156722&rft_dat=%3Cgale_plos_%3EA454205510%3C/gale_plos_%3E%3Curl%3E%3C/url%3E&disable_directlink=true&sfx.directlink=off&sfx.report_link=0&rft_id=info:oai/&rft_pqid=1793753314&rft_id=info:pmid/27257677&rft_galeid=A454205510&rft_doaj_id=oai_doaj_org_article_bb40702d89dc42029760433abdc14df1&rfr_iscdi=true |