The degree to which the cultural ideal is internalized predicts judgments of male and female physical attractiveness.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional perceptual rating and adjustment study assessing preferences and psychological traits without clinical follow-up.
PubMed 36337567 · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.980277
What was done
In two studies, male and female participants evaluated the physical attractiveness of male and female bodies. In Study 1, participants rated the attractiveness of 242 computer-generated bodies varying independently in muscle and adipose tissue to map preferences across body composition space. In Study 2, participants used a method-of-adjustment task to create the most attractive male and female bodies by independently adjusting muscle and adipose levels. Researchers assessed whether individual differences in internalization of cultural ideals, drive for muscularity, eating disorder symptomatology, and depressive symptoms shifted peak attractiveness locations.
What was found
The abstract reports no numeric values, effect sizes, or test statistics. Qualitatively, both male and female participants demonstrated a preference for male bodies with high muscle and low adipose tissue, and female bodies that were toned with low adipose tissue. Individual differences in the composition of the most attractive bodies were predicted by the degree of internalization of cultural ideals.
Why it matters
This study maps peak body attractiveness within a defined muscle-and-adipose parameter space and links variations in these perceptual ideals to individual differences in the internalization of cultural appearance standards.
Limits
The abstract omits sample sizes, participant characteristics, and all numerical metrics. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality between psychological internalization and visual preferences, and the use of computer-generated figures may not capture all features of real human bodies.