Physical attractiveness of face and body as indicators of physical fitness in men
Received 7 February 2006; accepted 8 September 2006. published online 22 January 2007.
Abstract
Human physical attractiveness appears to be an important signal of mate value that is utilized in mate choice We argue that performance-related physical fitness (PF) was an important facet of ancestral male mate value and, therefore, that a positive relationship exists between PF and physical attractiveness as well as mating success. We investigated these relationships in a sample of 80 young men. In line with our predictions, we found that (i) a composite measure of PF correlated substantially with body attractiveness (r=.43, after controlling for confounds) but not with facial attractiveness; (ii) PF was positively related to various measures of self-reported mating success (rS ≈ .22); (iii) the relationship between PF and self-reported mating success was partly mediated by body attractiveness. We conclude it is a key function of men's body attractiveness to signal their PF and that men's faces and bodies signal different facets of mate value.
aPsychologisches Institut, Technische Universität Chemnitz, D-09120 Chemnitz, Germany
bZentrum für Diagnostik, Klinikum Chemnitz, D-09116 Chemnitz, Germany
Corresponding author. School of Psychology & Sports Science, Northumbria University, Northumberland Bldg., City Campus, NE1 8ST Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.