Waist‐to‐hip ratio affects female body attractiveness and modulates early brain responses

Abstract

This investigation examined the electrophysiological response underlying the visual processing of waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) in female bodies, a characteristic known to affect perceived attractiveness. WHRs of female bodies were artificially adjusted to values of 0.6, 0.7, 0.8 or 0.9. Behavioural ratings of attractiveness of the bodies revealed a preference for WHRs of 0.7 in the overall group of participants, which included both male and female heterosexual individuals. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were then recorded while participants performed a selective attention task involving photographs of female models and scrambled images. Results showed that the P1 (80-120 ms) and N1 (130-170 ms) components situated over posterior brain regions were the earliest components to be modulated by attention and bodies. Interestingly, the vertex-positive potential, occurring between 120-180 ms, produced a greater positivity for WHRs of 0.7 compared to the other ratios. However, this increase was only observed when the body stimuli were attended, while no effect was observed for unattended bodies. These findings provide evidence of an early brain sensitivity to visual attributes that constitute secondary sexual characteristics. Although they are relatively discrete from the point of view of their physical quality, these signs possess strong behavioural significance, producing greater reported attractiveness, likely by conveying the biological meaning that signals good health and greater reproductive success. Our results therefore reveal that attributes associated with sexual attractiveness in female bodies are processed rapidly in the stream of visual processing.

Editorial: Where the rubber meets the road in visual perception: High temporal‐precision brain signals to top‐down and bottom‐up influences on perceptual resolution

“…In this special issue, Del Zotto et al. (2018) examined the perceived attractiveness of a secondary sexual characteristic of the human body—waist‐to‐hip ratio, in a behavioural task and in an EEG paradigm. They also aimed to test the role of attention and top‐down mechanisms by asking the participants to selectively attend to the body stimuli versus not in the ERP task.…”

“…The final paper of this group used behavioural ratings to determine which waist‐to‐hip ratio was the most attractive, and they showcased how the early P1 and N1 components are modulated by attention and waist‐to‐hip ratio (Del Zotto et al., 2018).…”

Do selfies make women look slimmer? The effect of viewing angle on aesthetic and weight judgments of women’s bodies

“…However, Singh [ 17 ] found that WHR was the key variable associated with attractiveness in women, both in terms of personality characteristics and physical attractiveness. Research indicates that an optimal WHR is closer to 0.7 [ 18 ].…”