Using Sexual Selection Theories to Examine Contextual Variation in Heterosexual Women’s Orientation Toward High Heels

Abstract

High heels are symbols of female sexuality and are "costly signals" if the risks of wearing them are offset by improving women's attractiveness to men. From a functionalist perspective, the costs versus benefits of wearing heels may vary according to personal and contextual factors, such as her effectiveness at competing for mates, or at times when such motives are stronger. Here, we examined potential differences between women (self-rated attractiveness, dyadic versus solitary sexual desire, women's age, competitive attitudes toward other women) and contextual variation (priming mating and competitive motives) in their responses to high heels. Study 1 (N = 79) and Study 2 (N = 273) revealed that self-rated attractiveness was positively related to orientation toward heeled shoes. When examining responses to two very attractive shoes (one higher heel, one lower heel) in Study 2, dyadic sexual desire, but not solitary sexual desire or intrasexual competitiveness, predicted their inclination to buy the higher-heeled shoe. In Study 3 (N = 142), young women chose high heels when primed with free choice of a designer shoe (95% CI [53.02 mm, 67.37 mm]) and preferred a heel 22 mm (0.87") higher than older women (Study 4, N = 247). Contrary to predictions, priming mating or competitive motives did not alter women's preference toward a higher heel (Studies 3 and 4). Our studies suggest that attractive women augment their physical appeal via heels. High heels may be a subtle indicator of dyadic sexual desire, and preferences for heels are stronger at times in the lifespan when mating competition is relatively intense.

To die for: attractiveness, fashion, and health risks

“…All research participants actually engaged in the respective risky fashion practices. Consistent with prior work linking fashion interest, attractiveness, and risky behaviors (Prokop, 2022;Watkins & Leitch, 2020), fashion interest was a significant driver of perceived benefits for both risky fashion practices, further influencing the frequency of risky fashion practices directly and indirectly via positive emotion. Perceived benefits were mostly related to attractiveness and fashionability that are expected from engaging in risky fashion practices.…”

“…In other research when measures have been developed to rate the fashionability of an item, those scales have also included the adjective "attractive" (e.g., Cox & Cox, 2002;Lennon & Clayton, 1992). In like manner Watkins and Leitch (2020) developed items to rate the attractiveness of shoes. In that research shoes rated as "attractive" were also rated as "fashionable;" the two attributes were significantly correlated.…”

Women Walk in High Heels: Lumbar Curvature, Dynamic Motion Stimuli and Attractiveness

“…This supports the idea that adequately perceiving the sexually attractive features of the female body is an essential part of women’s mate choice strategies and intrasexual rivalry [ 36 ]. In these terms, wearing high-heeled shoes may be considered as a means of female intrasexual rivalry aimed at gaining access to high-quality partners [ 37 , 38 , 39 ]. As an alternative explanation, however, we should note that there may be other reasons for the similar response pattern of women and men in our research.…”

Physical cues of partner quality

“…Women are more likely to wear high heels if they anticipate interacting with an attractive male, and are less likely to do so if they anticipate interacting with an unattractive male (Prokop & Švancárová, 2020). Women's dyadic sexual desire (i.e., an interest in, or a wish to engage in, sexual activity with another person, and desire for sharing and intimacy with that person) predicts their inclination to buy high-heeled rather than low-heeled shoes (Watkins & Leitch, 2020). Using high-heeled footwear modifies women's lumbar curvature and gait to be more appealing to men (Lewis et al, 2017;Morris, White, Morrison, & Fisher, 2013).…”