Alexandria Digital Research Library

Hormonal and morphological predictors of women's body attractiveness

Author:
Grillot, Rachel Louise
Degree Grantor:
University of California, Santa Barbara. Psychology
Degree Supervisor:
James R. Roney
Place of Publication:
[Santa Barbara, Calif.]
Publisher:
University of California, Santa Barbara
Creation Date:
2016
Issued Date:
2016
Topics:
Endocrinology, Social psychology, and Evolution & development
Keywords:
Estradiol
Evolutionary psychology
Sex hormones
SWR
BMI
Body attractiveness
Genres:
Online resources and Dissertations, Academic
Dissertation:
M.A.--University of California, Santa Barbara, 2016
Description:

Does women's body attractiveness predict indices of reproductive capacity? Prior research has provided evidence that large breast size and low waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) are positively associated with women's estrogen and progesterone concentrations, but no previous studies appear to have directly tested whether ratings of women's body attractiveness are predicted by higher concentrations of ovarian hormones measured across broad regions of the menstrual cycle. Here, we collected daily saliva samples across 1-2 menstrual cycles from a sample of young women; assayed the samples for estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone; obtained anthropometric measurements of the women's bodies; and also obtained attractiveness ratings of the women's bodies from photographs of them taken in standardized clothing with faces obscured. Contrary to previous research, mean hormone concentrations were uncorrelated with breast size and WHR. Body mass index (BMI) was a very strong negative predictor of body attractiveness ratings, similar to previous findings. Zero-order associations between women's mean hormone concentrations and mean attractiveness ratings were not significant; however, after controlling for BMI, attractiveness ratings were independently and positively associated with both estradiol and testosterone concentrations. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for whether attractiveness assessment mechanisms are specialized for the detection of cues of differential fecundity in young women's bodies.

Physical Description:
1 online resource (37 pages)
Format:
Text
Collection(s):
UCSB electronic theses and dissertations
ARK:
ark:/48907/f34x57vb
ISBN:
9781369146127
Catalog System Number:
990046968450203776
Rights:
Inc.icon only.dark In Copyright
Copyright Holder:
Rachel Grillot
File Description
Access: Public access
Grillot_ucsb_0035N_12978.pdf pdf (Portable Document Format)