PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Unlocking the secret of beauty: Scientists discover the complexities of attractive female bodies

2010-09-29
(Press-News.org) Scientists in Australia and Hong Kong have conducted a comprehensive study to discover how different body measurements correspond with ratings of female attractiveness. The study, published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, found that across cultural divides young, tall and long armed women were considered the most attractive.

"Physical attractiveness is an important determining factor for evolutionary, social and economic success," said lead author Robert Brooks from the University of New South Wales. "The dimensions of someone's body can tell observers if that person is suitable as a potential mate, a long term partner or perhaps the threat they pose as a sexual competitor."

Traditional studies of attractiveness have been bound to the Darwinian idea of natural selection, which argues that an individual will always choose the best possible mate that circumstances will allow. Such studies have focused on torso, waist, bust and hip measurements. In this study the team measured the attractiveness of scans of 96 bodies of Chinese women who were either students or volunteers, aged between 20-49 years of age.

Videos of the models were shown to a sample of 92 Australian adults, 40 men and 52 women, aged between 18 to 58 years of age, and mostly of European descent. They then compared the attractiveness ratings given by the Australian group to the ratings from a group in Hong Kong to avoid cultural bias.

Both sample groups were asked to rate the models' attractiveness on a 7 point scale; on average the raters took just 5.35 seconds to rate each model. The team then explored the statistical results, focusing on age, body weight and a range of length and girth measurements.

The results showed that there was a strong level of agreement between the 4 groups of Australian men and women, and Hong Kong men and women, with scans of younger, taller and lighter women being rated as more attractive. Women with narrow waists, especially relative to their height, were also considered much more attractive.

The study also revealed that BMI (Body mass index) and HWR (Hip to waist ratio) were both strong predictors of attractiveness. Scans of taller women who had longer arms were also rated highly, however leg size did not contribute significantly to the ratings.

"Our results showed consistent attractiveness ratings by men and women and by Hong Kong Chinese and Australian raters, suggesting considerable cross cultural consistency," concluded Brooks. "In part this may be due to shared media experiences. Nonetheless when models are stripped of their most obvious racial and cultural features, the features that make bodies attractive tend to be shared by men and women across cultural divides."

Brooks and his colleagues have taken their studies of the complexities of male and female attractiveness online at www.bodylab.biz.

INFORMATION:

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

How reasonable it is to deceive yourself?

2010-09-29
Anyone who simply denies the facts is most certainly behaving unreasonably – aren't they? Bochum's philosophers Prof. Dr. Albert Newen and Christoph Michel expound that in some cases it may be useful to deceive yourself. The self-deception can be an important motivating factor and not entirely lacking reason. The reason may be locally restricted, however basic strategies of rational evaluation processes remain intact. The researchers have published their work in the international specialist journal Consciousness & Cognition. Become as good as you think you are Self-deception ...

Wasps wage war on behalf of wiliwili trees

2010-09-29
A black, two-millimeter-long wasp from East Africa is helping wage war on one of its own kind—the Erythrina gall wasp, an invasive species that's decimated Hawaii's endemic wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis) and introduced coral bean trees (Erythrina spp.). Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) officials "recruited" the beneficial wasp, Eurytoma erythrinae, and first released it in November 2008 after evaluating its host specificity as a biocontrol agent. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) entomologist Michael Gates' scientific description and naming of the species, ...

Elsevier survey reveals researchers ready to push scientific search and discovery to the next level

2010-09-29
Amsterdam, 28 September, 2010 – Elsevier, a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today released highlights from a new survey that reveals researchers around the globe are not only ready for the next phase in search and discovery, but also prepared to actively contribute to making it a reality. In developing SciVerse, Elsevier's recently launched search and discovery platform, the company conducted a significant amount of research within the scientific community. Building on earlier qualitative work, the online ...

The price of popularity: Drug and alcohol consumption

2010-09-29
Montreal, September 28, 2010 – The consumption of drugs and alcohol by teenagers is not just about rebellion or emotional troubles. It's about being one of the cool kids, according to a study by led by researchers at the Université de Montréal. "Our study highlights a correlation between popularity and consumption," says Jean-Sébastien Fallu, lead researcher and professor at the Université de Montréal's School of Psychoeducation. "The teenagers we studied were well-accepted, very sensitive to social codes, and understood the compromises that it takes to be popular." Link ...

Study finds national debt 'tipping point' that slows economic growth

2010-09-29
Researchers from North Carolina State University have identified a "tipping point" for national debt – the point at which national debt levels begin to have an adverse effect on economic growth. The findings could influence economic policy discussions globally, and will be distributed at the upcoming meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group. "If a country's public debt reaches 77 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), bad things start to happen," says Dr. Mehmet Caner, professor of economics at NC State and co-author of the study. "There ...

International AIDS Society emphasizes universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care as a prerequisite for improving maternal and child health

2010-09-29
September 28, 2010 (Geneva, Switzerland) – At the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) summit in New York this week, world leaders gathered to review progress on the eight goals agreed in 2000 on alleviating world poverty and ill-health by 2015. As the summit came to a close, governments, businesses and aid organisations made commitments totaling $40bn to reach the goals, with particular emphasis on improving maternal and child health. A global strategy for women's and children's health, focused on reducing maternal and child deaths, empowering women and achieving equality, ...

Targeting amyloid to stop HIV

2010-09-29
Amyloid protein structures are best known for the troubles they pose in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Now researchers are trying to exploit their presence in a very different place – in semen – to find a new way to stop HIV. Scientists have created a substance that targets amyloid structures in semen and have used it to weaken the ability of HIV to infect the body's immune cells in the laboratory. The experimental compound, originally designed to help Alzheimer's patients by disrupting the actions of amyloid in the brain, make it much more likely that HIV particles ...

Envious employees can turn hospitality industry hostile

2010-09-29
Guest relationships can become collateral damage when hotel employees envy the relationships co-workers have with their bosses, according to an international team of researchers. In the study of front-line hotel employees -- desk staff, food and beverage workers, housekeepers -- workers who have poor relationships with their bosses were more likely to envy co-workers with better relationships with supervisors, said John O'Neill, associate professor, School of Hospitality Management, Penn State. The study showed that the envious workers were also less likely to help co-workers ...

'Green' concrete developed at Louisiana Tech University on display at Detroit Science Center

2010-09-29
RUSTON, La. – Geopolymer concrete, an innovative and environmentally-friendly building material developed at Louisiana Tech University's Trenchless Technology Center (TTC), will be featured in a transportation exhibition taking place at the Detroit Science Center. Developed by Dr. Erez Allouche, research director for the TTC, and his team, geopolymer concrete is an emerging class of cementitious materials that utilize "fly ash", one of the most abundant industrial by-products, as a substitute for Portland cement, the most widely produced man-made material on earth. "Presenting ...

WMS endorses emergency treatment of anaphylaxis by trained non-medical professionals

2010-09-29
Philadelphia, PA, September 28, 2010 – The Epinephrine Roundtable was convened during the 25th Annual Meeting of the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) in 2008 to explore areas of consensus and uncertainty in the field treatment of anaphylaxis. The panel endorsed the administration of epinephrine to treat anaphylaxis in the field under emergency conditions by trained non-medical professionals. Anaphylaxis, an acute allergic reaction, is sudden in onset and requires immediate treatment. The recommendations of the panel are published in the September issue of Wilderness & Environmental ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Different types of depression linked to different cardiometabolic diseases

Ketogenic diet may protect against stress experienced in the womb

Adults 65 years and older not immune to the opioid epidemic, new study finds

Artificial intelligence emerging as powerful patient safety tool in pediatric anesthesia

Mother’s ZIP code, lack of access to prenatal care can negatively impact baby’s health at birth, new studies show

American Society of Anesthesiologists honors John M. Zerwas, M.D., FASA, with Distinguished Service Award

A centimeter-scale quadruped piezoelectric robot with high integration and strong robustness

Study confirms that people with ADHD can be more creative. The reason may be that they let their mind wander

Research gives insight into effect of neurodegenerative diseases on speech rhythm

Biochar and plants join forces to clean up polluted soils and boost ecosystem recovery

Salk scientist Joseph Ecker awarded McClintock Prize for Plant Genetics and Genome Studies

ADHD: Women are diagnosed five years later than men, despite symptoms appearing at the same age.

Power plants may emit more pollution during government shutdowns

Increasing pressures for conformity de-skilling and demotivating teachers, study warns

Researchers develop smarter menstrual product with potential for wearable health monitoring

Microwaves for energy-efficient chemical reactions

MXene current collectors could reduce size, improve recyclability of Li-ion batteries

Living near toxic sites linked to aggressive breast cancer

New discovery could open door to male birth control

Wirth elected Fellow of American Physical Society

The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Ahead-of-Print Tip Sheet: October 10, 2025

Destined to melt

Attitudes, not income, drive energy savings at home

The playbook for perfect polaritons

‘Disease in a dish’ study of progressive MS finds critical role for unusual type of brain cell

Solar-powered method lights the way to a ‘de-fossilized’ chemical industry

Screen time linked to lower academic achievement among Ontario elementary students

One-year outcomes after traumatic brain injury and early extracranial surgery in the TRACK-TBI Study

Enduring outcomes of COVID-19 work absences on the US labor market

Affirmative action repeal and racial and ethnic diversity in us medical school admissions

[Press-News.org] Unlocking the secret of beauty: Scientists discover the complexities of attractive female bodies