Secular changes in standards of bodily attractiveness in women: tests of a reproductive model.

OBJECTIVE: Since success at work is favored by a more slender body build while reproduction is favored by curvaceousness, standards of women's bodily attractiveness should be predictable from economic and reproductive variables.

METHODS: This hypothesis was tested in a replication and extension of a study by Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson, Vogel, and Fantini (1986) which looked at correlates of curvaceousness of Vogue models over time.

RESULTS: As economic prosperity increased, and as women's participation in the economy, and higher education, increased, curvaceousness of the standards declined. As the proportion of single women to men, both aged 20-24 years, increased, and as the birth rate declined, curvaceousness was reduced.

DISCUSSION: Results suggest that cultural standards of attractiveness are influenced by an evolved psychology of mate selection.