Annotated Bibliography
Singh, D. (1993). Adaptive significance of female physical attractiveness: role of
waist-to-hip ratio. Journal of personality and social psychology, 65(2), 293.
In the introduction the important information that was being presented discusses
when females go to puberty whether it gives them a transformational gain physically.
That which determines the level of attractiveness towards the female. Singh collects
three studies which is reflected on attractiveness depending on their waste-to-hip ratio.
In study one the methods show the difference between of waist-to-hip ratios in the Miss
America and Playboy playmates over the time of 30-60 years by the percentage of ideal
weight and WHR as the IV and the years as the DV. Study two methods was collected
from women body types. Then a group of males ages 18-22 years old rates figurines
drawings whether they were most attractive to less attractive. The IV was the ratings
and the DV was the WHR. In study 3, the data analyzed if older men find women with
the perfect WHR attractive. Men from ages 25 through 85 were the participants in this
study. These studies support how waste-to-hip ratio increases female attractiveness
and its role in how males find females attractive. Also, it plays apart in mate selection
when it comes to men
Lennon, S. J. (1988). Physical attractiveness, age, and body type. Home
Economics Research Journal, 16(3), 195-203.
In the introduction the important information that is being presented is whether
models and the typical female are judged by their physical and facial attractiveness.
Other factors that they judge are how thin or thick they may be and their age. The
judges for models tend to lean more towards thinner models and how attractive their
face is. The hypothesis that is being used is how age and body type are important when
in comes to physical attractiveness. Participants view a booklet of pictures that were
black and white, these pictures were split up by age ranging from 18 to 55 and dress
size from 6, 10 and 14. Each participant was asked to choose a model. From these
results the younger and thinner models were rated more attractive compared to the
thicker and older models. The researchers could have allowed the participants to see
models in person instead of using a picture. Sometimes the perspective makes a
different and pictures can be modified.
Little, A. C., Burt, D. M., Penton-Voak, I. S., & Perrett, D. I. (2001). Self-perceived
attractiveness influences human female preferences for sexual dimorphism and
symmetry in male faces. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B:
Biological Sciences, 268(1462), 39-44.
In the introduction the important information that is being presented is how
masculinity and face symmetry pertains to how attractive a person is, being male or
female. It talks about how females should not show a preference for phenotypic signs in
males because high phenotypic males invest less time in females that are lower. It also
states what a female preference may be in a male. The hypothesis that is being tested
is whether masculinity and face symmetry have an effect on how attractive a person is.
In this study they split into two categories preference being masculinity and preference
for symmetry. 90 females between age 17 to 39 volunteered patriate for the symmetry
preference study online. They rated how attractive a male and female was on a scale 1
to 5 based on the symmetrical images. For masculinity 66 female participants rated on a
scale 1 to 5. The results showed that females who consider themselves physically
attractive prefer masculinity and facial symmetry. Female who considered themselves
above average in attractiveness prefer more masculine male face shapes.
Tovée, M. J., Maisey, D. S., Emery, J. L., & Cornelissen, P. L. (1999). Visual cues
to female physical attractiveness. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London.
Series B: Biological Sciences, 266(1415), 211-218.
The important information from the introduction discuss how humans choose a
mate. We choose someone based off of reproduction. Moreover, it discusses whether a
male judge a woman based on their BMI or WHR. The hypothesis is how visual cues
PAR can provide a reliable index of a woman’s BMI which can be used to determine a
woman’s attractiveness. The results show that majority of males are more attracted to
BMI than waist to hip ratio. What could have been improved was expanding in the
participants that they used.
Puts, D. A. (2010). Beauty and the beast: Mechanisms of sexual selection in
humans. Evolution and human behavior, 31(3), 157-175.
In the introduction they discussed how mate selection is one of the top options
that we use for sexual selection. They also state how “the two dimensionalities of the
human mating environment, along with phylogeny, the spatial and temporal clustering of
mates and competitors, and anatomical considerations, predict that contest competition
should have been the primary mechanism of sexual selection in men.” The hypothesis
of this study was based on how male and female distinguish when choosing their
mates. The major results and conclusion of this study was that human mating is
complicated. What we think contribute to how we choose is a mate is not all that
matters. There are more factors that contribute to it.
