Tendencies toward supernormality/subnormality in generating attractive and unattractive female and male avatars: Gender differences.

Abstract

In the present study we investigated the differences in the experience of attractiveness and unattractiveness of human bodies. One hundred one participants (55 females) were asked to create the most attractive and the most unattractive female and male figures using a computer animation. They performed this task by adjusting the size of six body parts: shoulders, breasts/chest, waist, hips, buttocks and legs. Analyses indicated that attractive body parts were distributed normally with the peak shifted to moderately supernormal sizes, while unattractive body parts have mostly U-shaped or skewed distributions with extremes in super-supernormal and/or subnormal sizes. Generally, both male and female attractive bodies have prominent „sporty“ look: supernormally wide shoulders and long legs. Gender differences have shown that men prefer more supernomal masculine and feminine sizes, while women show an ambivalence towards both groups of traits. PCA revealed gender differences on the multitraits level: males focus on prominent masculine and feminine traits, while women focus on traits that make both male and female bodies more elongated and slender. Gender differences are in line with specific male and female positions in the partner selection process, while a certain tendency towards masculinization of the female body required the inclusion of social factors, such as the influence of the culture of a sporty and fit look.