ORIGINAL PAPER
Men’s Preferences for Women’s Breast Morphology
in New Zealand, Samoa, and Papua New Guinea
Barnaby J. Dixson
•
Paul L. Vasey
•
Katayo Sagata
•
Nokuthaba Sibanda
•
Wayne L. Linklater
•
Alan F. Dixson
Received: 29 October 2009 / Revised: 25 August 2010 / Accepted: 25 August 2010
 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010
Abstract Sexual selection via mate choice may have influ-
enced the evolution of women’s breast morphology. We con-
ducted an image-based questionnaire quantifying and compar-
ing the preferences of men from Papua New Guinea (PNG),
Samoa, and New Zealand (NZ) for images of women’s breast
size, breast symmetry, areola size, and areolar pigmentation.
Results showed that men from PNG preferred larger breasts to a
greater extent than men from Samoa and NZ, providing some
support for the hypothesis that men from subsistence living
cultures have a greater preference for morphological cues
indicative of caloric reserves. Symmetrical breasts were most
attractive to men in each culture. However, preferences were
highest among NZ men, followed by men from Samoa, and
were lowest among men from PNG. These results did not
support the hypothesis that people living in higher pathogen
environments have a greater preference for traits indicative of
pathogen resistance and developmental stability. Large areo-
lae were preferredamong men fromPNG, and to a lesserextent
in Samoa, while in NZ men preferred medium-sized areolae.
Thus, men’s preferences for women’s areolar size appear to be
highly culturally specific. Darkly pigmented areolae were most
attractive to men from Samoa and PNG, whereas men from NZ
preferred areolae with medium pigmentation. These findings
suggest that areolar pigmentation indicative of sexual maturity
is preferred by men rather than lighter pigmentation, which may
signal that a woman is in the early years of reproductive matu-
rity. This study highlights the importance of cross-cultural
research when testing the role of morphological cues in mate
choice.
Keywords Attractiveness  Female breasts 
Sexual selection  Cross-cultural research
Introduction
Uniquely among the primates, adult female human beings have
large stores of body fat in their thighs, hips, and buttocks (the
gluteal/femoral region) and breasts (Dufour & Slather, 2002;
Pond, 1997). Body composition is sexually dimorphic (Carter &
Heath, 1990); women may have up to 43.6% of their physique
comprised of fat in comparison to 28.4% in men (Clarys, Martin,
& Drinkwater, 1984). Sexual dimorphism in body composition
results in marked sexual dimorphism in body shape (Wells,
2007). Women typically have a narrower waist in relation to
wider hips, as reflected in their lower waist-to-hip ratios (WHR)
compared to men. The physiological demands of pregnancy and
lactation are such that natural selection has likely been the pri-
mary evolutionary cause for sexual dimorphism in body fat and
body shape (Cant, 1981;Jasienska,2009). The evolution of
bipedal locomotion also places biomechanical constraints
on women, as they must remain mobile during gestation
(Pawlowski, 2001). This may have favored a lower center
of body mass in women, which correlates with low WHR
(Pawlowski & Grabarczyk, 2003). In addition to natural
B. J. Dixson (&)  W. L. Linklater  A. F. Dixson
School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington,
Wellington, New Zealand
e-mail: Barnaby.Dixson@vuw.ac.nz
P. L. Vasey
Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge,
AB, Canada
K. Sagata
Department of Zoology, La Trobe University, Melbourne,
Australia
N. Sibanda
School of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research,
Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
123
Arch Sex Behav
DOI 10.1007/s10508-010-9680-6

selection, sexual selection may have affected body shape and
the distribution of body fat in women. Thus, a gynoid fat dis-
tribution and an‘‘hourglass’’body shape may be honest signals
of female health and reproductive potential (Barber, 1995;
Singh, 2002; Singh & Young, 1995; Thornhill & Grammer,
1999).
In contrast to female nonhuman primates, where breast
enlargement only occurs during lactation (Short, 1980), women’s
breasts enlarge at puberty due to increased deposition of adi-
pose and stromal tissue (Vandeweyer & Hertens, 2002). The
social and evolutionary significance of breast enlargement prior
to pregnancy and lactation in women has been a subject of much
debate (Caro, 1987; Jesser, 1971). Some authors have argued
that as humans evolved hairlessness and bipedal locomotion, the
breasts were displayed more prominently and their pendulous
morphology was adaptive for breast-feeding babies (LeBlanc &
Barnes, 1974). Smith (1986) suggested that breasts provide a soft
cushion that is psychologically comforting to the infant. Large
breasts may serve as storage organs for milk (Low, Alexander, &
Noonan, 1987). However, it is important to note that the size of the
non-lactating breast is not indicative of its potential to produce
milk (Anderson, 1988;Caro,1987; Caro & Sellen, 1990; Mascia-
Lees, Relethford, & Sorger, 1986). While localized fat storage is
required as energy reserves for gestation and lactation (Anderson,
1983;Jasienska,2009), fat in the breasts may have evolved in
parallel with gluteal/femoral fat reserves (Pawlowski, 1999).
It has been suggested that sexual selection via mate choice
may have enhanced the expression of permanently enlarged
breasts in women (Barber, 1995). However, while men may
become sexually aroused by images of female breasts (Freund,
Langevin, & Zajac, 1974), male preferences for female breast
size appear to be highly variable. Ford and Beach (1951) iden-
tified cross-cultural differences in male preferences for breast
size and morphology. For example, among the Sudanese
Azande, men prefer long pendulous breasts; Alorese men of
the Alor Island in Indonesia prefer large breasts and men
of the Kenyan Massai tribes prefer firm, upright breasts.
Research quantifying male preferences for female breast size
has also yielded mixed results. Studies have concluded that
men in Western cultures rate images of women with small
breasts (Furnham, Swami, & Shah, 2006), medium-sized
breasts (Horvath, 1981) or larger than medium-sized breasts
(Furnham, Dias, & McClelland, 1998; Singh & Young, 1995)
as most attractive. However, these studies are subject to meth-
odological problems, as most have used line drawings of women
in bathing suits or silhouettes as stimuli. Such images do not
allow people to distinguish between changes in breast shape, size,
and areolar configuration. Across the lifespan, such changes may
be used to gauge a woman’s age and reproductive status
(Gallup, 1982; Marlowe, 1998; Symons, 1995).
A further problem in research quantifying male preferences
for female breast morphology concerns the lack of cross-cul-
tural data. If selection has acted upon mate preferences from
the earliest phases of human evolution, encouraging men to
attend to certain morphological traits (Buss, 2003; Grammer,
Fink, Møller, & Thornhill, 2003), one would predict concor-
dance in preferences for those traits across societies that cur-
rently vary in socioeconomic status and exposure to Western
mass media. The current study tested these ideas using a ques-
tionnaire survey quantifying attractiveness judgments for var-
ious aspects of female breast morphology among Melanesian
men from Papua New Guinea (PNG), Polynesian men in
Samoa, and men of European descent in New Zealand (NZ).
A number of theories propose either that breast morphology
signals nubility in young women or that they are more important
as signals of sexual maturity and fertility (Gallup, 1982;Marlowe,
1998;Symons,1995). In a sample of 119 Polish women, women
with larger breasts and lower WHRs had higher circulat-
ing levels of 17-b-estradiol and progesterone (Jasienska,
Ziomkiewicz, Ellison, Lipson, & Thune, 2004), which are pre-
dictors of the probability of conception (Lipson & Ellison, 1996).
Jasienska et al. found that women with larger breasts had
higher levels of circulating estradiol, independent of WHR.
Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that men should judge
large breasts as most attractive as a signal of fecundity.
Directional asymmetry in morphological traits may be strongly
determined by genetic and environmental factors, as well as resis-
tance to pathogens (Møller, 1999). Thus, symmetry in morpho-
logical traits may enhance attractiveness as a signal of mate qual-
ity (Møller & Thornhill, 1998). Women with more symmetrical
breasts have been shown to have higher fecundity in the UK, the
U.S., and Spain (Manning, Scutt, Whitehouse, & Leinster,
1997; Møller, Soler, & Thornhill, 1995). In contrast, women
with greater breast asymmetry have a higher probability of devel-
oping breast cancer (Scutt, Lancaster, & Manning, 2006)andmay
experience difficulty lactating due to deficient glandular devel-
opment (Niefert, Seacat, & Jobe, 1985). We tested the hypothe-
sis that men should prefer symmetrical breasts as a signal of
fecundity, maternal health, and pathogen resistance.
Breast maturation in girls is typically measured through fat
deposition (Tanner, 1962). However, the maturation of the areo-
lae may also be indicative of female sexual maturity. During
adolescence in girls, areolar diameter increases and is larger at
the onset of menarche than in pre-pubescence (Biro, Falkner,
Khoury, Morrison, & Lucky, 1992).Thesizeandshapeofthe
areolae in women may influence men’s attractiveness judg-
ments of women’s breasts (Barber, 1995;Guthrie,1976). We
examined the hypothesis that changes in areolar size should
affect male judgments of female attractiveness, with men prefer-
ring breasts with large areolae as a sign of reproductive maturity.
Areolar pigmentation shows important variations with age,
being lightest at the onset of menarche and darkening as women
mature (Garn, Selby, & Crawford, 1956), particularly during
pregnancy and lactation (Garn & French, 1963; Muzaffar,
Hussain, & Haroon, 1998; Pawson & Petrakis, 1975). Areolar
pigmentation may be an index of parity and lighter pigmentation
Arch Sex Behav
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