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Hungry for Heavier Women?
Why men love heavy women in bad times.
by Matthew Hutson, Psychology Today News Editor and contributor for Brainstorm.
When men are hungry they're more attracted to heavier women. Some evolutionary psychologists argue that in an environment where food is scarce, potential sires want to bank their sperm in a body that can provide for its offspring. What about when other resources are scarce? Can financial insolvency prompt desire for a plump mate?
Some evidence says yes. Viren Swami, Martin Tovée, and others have shown that in societies around the world, socioeconomic status negatively correlates with preferred mate weight: men in cultures with fat wallets want skinny women. Comparing populations is scientifically messy though; too many extraneous factors.
Psychologists Leif Nelson and Evan Morrison manipulated individual male participants' financial satisfaction by asking them about personal savings in a way that made them feel either rich or poor, then asked them to name the ideal body weight of a potential partner. Feeling poor added a few pounds to that number. (They also demonstrated that hungry men want fat women by cornering undergrads on their way in or out of the dining hall.)
Swami and Tovée repeated Nelson and Morrison's hunger study, confirming their results. But when they repeated the personal-savings study using purportedly more rigorous methods (subjects rated photographs of women), men induced to feel rich and men induced to feel poor each preferred women with a BMI between 20 and 21. And the groups had identical ratings of women with a BMI of 30. So financial insecurity did NOT arouse a preference for plus-sizes.
So what makes food special as a resource? It's possible that money is too abstract and too recent an invention to tap into the same drives as physiological hunger. Or maybe hunger merely enhances aesthetic appreciation of any heavy object, whether a woman or a watermelon.
Read more by Matthew Hutson on Psychology Today’s Brainstorm blog.
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by Matthew Hutson, Psychology Today News Editor and contributor for Brainstorm.When men are hungry they're more attracted to heavier women. Some evolutionary psychologists argue that in an environment where food is scarce, potential sires want to bank their sperm in a body that can provide for its offspring. What about when other resources are scarce? Can financial insolvency prompt desire for a plump mate?
Some evidence says yes. Viren Swami, Martin Tovée, and others have shown that in societies around the world, socioeconomic status negatively correlates with preferred mate weight: men in cultures with fat wallets want skinny women. Comparing populations is scientifically messy though; too many extraneous factors.
Psychologists Leif Nelson and Evan Morrison manipulated individual male participants' financial satisfaction by asking them about personal savings in a way that made them feel either rich or poor, then asked them to name the ideal body weight of a potential partner. Feeling poor added a few pounds to that number. (They also demonstrated that hungry men want fat women by cornering undergrads on their way in or out of the dining hall.)
Swami and Tovée repeated Nelson and Morrison's hunger study, confirming their results. But when they repeated the personal-savings study using purportedly more rigorous methods (subjects rated photographs of women), men induced to feel rich and men induced to feel poor each preferred women with a BMI between 20 and 21. And the groups had identical ratings of women with a BMI of 30. So financial insecurity did NOT arouse a preference for plus-sizes.
So what makes food special as a resource? It's possible that money is too abstract and too recent an invention to tap into the same drives as physiological hunger. Or maybe hunger merely enhances aesthetic appreciation of any heavy object, whether a woman or a watermelon.
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Read more by Matthew Hutson on Psychology Today’s Brainstorm blog.
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Labels: modern love, relationships, sex
15 Comments:
I understand that some men are more attractive to bigger women than others are but why doesn't our loved ones or spouse comment us. What do we have to do to get that. I know that when you get married that things change but it doesn't need to change that much and there's no reason for it to change.
This article is kind of funny and weird. So when guys are hungry, they tend to go for heavier women? Are these guys heavy also or are they slim? There are a lot of unanswered questions. In general, I think Americans should start taking better care of themselves especially during these rough times. My husband and I have cut back significantly on meat and have saved loads of money. I'm not saying I'm a vegetarian, but I do spend less money on meat
My wife is heavier than she should be but I adore her. I don't necessarily eat a lot. But I have been married to my wife for 15 years. I think she is a great wife and mother.
In my opinion, a person should not be judged by their size anyway, but that's just me! I am a BBW and yes, I could and should lose some weight, but I have tried, and my doctor has even made the comment he doesn't understand why I can't lose weight. We have gone over my diet.
I think you should judge someone on their inside, not their outside!!
Just my opinion anyway.....and yes, I am married, and have been married for 19 years, half of my life...and he loves me whether I am a size 14 or a size 22......
Happy Valentine's Day!!!
i guess they didn't have anything better to do to spend their money on for research.
This is extremely interesting and the concept never entered my mind, however, as I look around at my friends, the heavier ones have larger husbands too.
being a 42 year old man,I to can understand that some men are more attractive to bigger women, myself included.just about every relationship that i have been in the past as well as at the presant time , has been with a woman who is slightly to moderately obese. I too think that this artical is kind of funnyand weird, but it is also some what true. i think that slightly heavior women are just as butifull and as sexy as women who are thin and have no visable signs of any exess body weight.
Some of the most physically beautiful people only need to open their mouth and they instantly become the ugliest people I have ever known. Some of the physically ugliest people I know are actually the most beautiful people on the face of this earth! Istn't it time that we look more on the inside and realize that true beauty is kindness and love and a great heart? Haven't we had enough of garbage studies that only seem to prove that humans are the funniest creatures God has created?! Enjoy them!
Well, just so you know, I am now older and heavier than I have ever been before and more men, especially those in higher income brackets, flirt with me now than ever before, regardless of how young or thin I was in the past. I am significantly obese and yet, these men are falling over themselves to flirt with me. I don't exactly understand why, but I'm definitely enjoying it. So, we all need to stop making assumptions regarding attraction's link to weight because it's obviously something else that is bringing men hither. Perhaps I've FINALLY reached the age where men can appreciate me for me and not be obsessed with the package.
just to let you all know, i,m 42 year old male and my g/f just turned 50 i weigh between 170 to 1 190 and she weighs about 190 to 200. to us being alittle over weight does not matterat all. we manidge to have a very happy and healthy active love life.to me heavy woman tend to be very loving ,caring, and nurcuring in their relationships and are very open to show afection
This is one of the most stupid, useless articles . . . Really, what is the point? All it does insult the reader's inteligence and make Web MD seem juvenile.
Culturally, I can give you ten good reasons why men love full-size-good-shaped-women. I do not think it has anything to do with food. Trust me, I have been married to one for thirty years.
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It not the outside look, but what is on the in side of a a woman that makes them a wonderful person, a mate and great wonderful woman. My wife of over 30 year is a little over 350 lbs. If you give 90% to each other, it makes a wonderful life
I think it don't matter how big or small u are cuz it matters what going on inside like are u nice like will u help a stranger in the store if they couldn't find something or will u hold the door open for someone will u go vist some older people at a nursing home and if u saw someone in stress see if they are okay its all about giving something back what comes around comes back around!!!!!!!!
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