While the “father’s body” was once thought to be the most attractive physique for men, a new study suggests that may not be the case anymore.
Research has found that if men want to look better, they should build muscle around their pecs and biceps — although it may not work if they’re short.
According to experts, a higher “shoulder-to-hip ratio” (SHR) — larger circumference around the shoulders than around the waist — is a sign of attractiveness.
However, men who aren’t very tall may not be able to change a woman’s perception of how attractive they are — even with a lot of muscle build-up, the study found.
Building muscle around your chest and biceps can help men increase their attractiveness—as long as they’re tall. It’s less likely to work in smaller men, new study says (file photo)
What is the shoulder to hip ratio?
Shoulder-to-hip ratio (SHR) is a measure that compares circumference at the shoulders to circumference at the waist.
SHR is calculated by dividing shoulder circumference by waist circumference.
A higher SHR means that the shoulders are larger than the waist.
As a result, a higher SHR indicates more muscle around the shoulders (eg, biceps, deltoids, and pecs) than there is fat around the abdomen. A lower SHR is the opposite, indicating more fat around the abdomen.
For men, the ideal SHR is 1.6, which means the circumference of the shoulders is 1.6 times the circumference of the waist.
An SHR below 1.6 can indicate either the waist is larger than it should be, or the shoulders are narrower than they should be, or a combination of both.
The new study was led by experts at the University of British Columbia and published in Archives of Sexual Behavior.
The experts say that a high SHR is a “sexually dimorphic trait,” meaning it’s more likely to be seen in men than women as a means of attracting the opposite sex.
“Our results indicated that female perceptions of male attractiveness, masculinity, and fighting ability were influenced by and interacted with body size and SHR,” lead author Farid Pazhoohi told PsyPost.
“In general, women preferred taller and broader shouldered men—particularly when these two traits were presented in combination (or in interaction).”
Pazhoohi and colleagues wanted to see how different heights and SHRs in men affect how attractive they are perceived by women.
In particular, they wanted to see how the two factors size and SHR interact and influence each other.
‘For example, would the effect of a high SHR on a short man be as great as on a tall man, or would its effect decrease (or increase?) as men get shorter,’ the researchers write in their paper.
To find out, the team recruited 659 straight women in the United States, all between the ages of 18 and 83.
Participants were asked to look at images of male bodies ranging in height from 5 ft 3 in (160 cm) to 6 ft 3 in (190 cm) and three grades of SHR (“small”, “medium”, and “large”) .
Instead of being shown men in the flesh, participants were shown illustrations of men, either in silhouette or more detailed color representations, alongside a female figure for comparison.
Participants were asked to look at images of male bodies with heights ranging from 5 ft 3 in to 6 ft 3 in and three grades of SHR (“small,” “medium,” and “large”). Pictured is a 160 cm (5 ft 3 in) male but with a higher SHR
Pictured is a 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) tall male but with a lower SHR. The male figures were shown next to a female for comparison
What is sexual dimorphism?
Some animals exhibit high levels of sexual dimorphism — meaning that apart from their sex organs, they exhibit vast differences in their physical characteristics — in part to attract mates.
For example, in peacocks, the males are usually brightly colored with large, shiny tail feathers, compared to the females, which are more muted in coloration.
Other examples of sexual dimorphism include antlers, found largely only on male deer, and the male lion’s distinctive mane.
In humans, females are attracted to dimorphic traits such as larger torsos, larger height, and beard growth.
Each participant was then asked to rate each character’s attractiveness, masculinity, and fighting ability.
Overall, participants considered taller men and men with greater SHR to be more attractive, more masculine, and better at fighting ability.
“Here we find that women prefer tall and broad-shouldered men, especially when the men were both tall and broad-shouldered,” they wrote in their paper.
However, the effect of height on attractiveness was more complicated.
Male bodies with higher SHRs (more muscle around the shoulders) were considered more attractive in taller men, but less so in shorter men.
In other words, there’s less of a guarantee that short men will be seen as attractive even if they have a lot of upper body muscle.
The results support the widely held belief that height is an important factor for women when choosing a man — and for a man when trying to attract a woman.
According to a 2002 study, taller men are more successful at attracting long-term partners than shorter men.
Previous studies have suggested that a man’s height is a signal of “biological quality” associated with increased fitness, health and attractiveness.
In terms of women’s attractiveness as perceived by men, the equivalent is what is known as the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), which is calculated by dividing the circumference of the waist by that of the hips.
The findings support the widely held belief that height is an important factor for women when choosing a man (file photo)
Men are biologically hardwired to find a lower WHR—where a woman’s waist is significantly smaller than her hips—more attractive.
On the other hand, a higher WHR, where the width of the waist equals or exceeds that of the hips, is an indicator of obesity or disease.
A 2019 study by Pazhoohi found that women tend to stand with one side of the hip up to reduce the hip-to-waist ratio of one side of the body.
Known as contrapposto, this pose is commonly used by celebrities on Instagram or when posing on the red carpet to increase perceived sexiness.
Contrapposto IS the ultimate way to look good on Instagram: Michelangelo, Da Vinci and the Kardashians’ poses are scientifically proven to be more attractive
Scientists have explained at length why the contraption pose is so common among celebrities, models and students when going out.
From Kim Kardashian to Antoni Porowski, red carpet celebrities naturally tend to pull the contraption, where most of the weight is shifted to one foot so one hip is up.
The pose accentuates the curve and reduces the hip-to-waist ratio on one side of the body.
The so-called contraposto pose, in which the weight is shifted to one foot so that one hip points up, draws attention to itself. Pictured is Kylie Jenner
In the eyes of the opposite sex, it has always been an indicator of health, youthfulness and reproductive capacity.
Now scientists have explained in detail why so many of us are naturally inclined to strike the pose without even thinking.
“We think that artists intuitively found this attitude to be more attractive and applied it in their artistic endeavors,” said Dr.
To test the theory that the pose attracts more attention, Dr. Farid Pazhoohi and his team 3D avatars of a woman standing both upright and in contrapposto pose.
The team showed the images to 68 heterosexual university students (25 men and 43 women).
They used eye-tracking technology to calculate the study participants’ eye movements directed at the avatars, including the total number of visual fixations and the total “dwell time”.
It found that participants spent more time looking at the side with the lower hip-to-waist ratio—in other words, the side of the body where the hips point up.
This was the case when the avatar was viewed from several different angles – front, back, and diagonally.
Therefore, taking the contraption pose and the contrast between one side of the body and the other side makes a woman more attention and stands out from the crowd.
Interestingly, when the avatars stood upright, the participants’ eye movements were more centrally directed to the groin area.