10.1177/0146167204264078PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETINettijohn, Jungeberg / PLAYBOY PLAYMATE C RV S
Playboy Playmate Curves: Changes in
Facial and Body Feature Preferences Across
Social and Economic Conditions
Terry F. Pettijohn II
Brian J. Jungeberg
Mercyhurst College
Past research has investigated ideals of beauty and how these ide-
als have changed across time. In the current study, facial and
body characteristics of Playboy Playmates of the Year from
1960-2000 were identified and investigated to explore their rela-
tionships with U.S. social and economic factors. Playmate of the
Year age, body feature measures, and facial feature measure-
ments were correlated with a general measure of social and eco-
nomic hard times. Consistent with Environmental Security
Hypothesis predictions, when social and economic conditions
were difficult, older, heavier, taller Playboy Playmates of the
Year with larger waists, smaller eyes, larger waist-to-hip ratios,
smaller bust-to-waist ratios, and smaller body mass index values
were selected. These results suggest that environmental security
may influence perceptions and preferences for women with cer-
tain body and facial features.
Keywords: facial features; body features; physical appearance; physi-
cal attraction; environmental security
For decades, psychologists have been studying the ide-
als of beauty and what makes an individual physically
attractive. Researchers have provided detailed accounts
of changing trends in U.S. history by studying the mea-
surements of Playboy Playmates, Miss America contest
winners, and models in popular women’s magazines
(i.e., Vogue, Ladies Home Journal) and advertisements
across time and their relationships to popular culture and
dieting or clothing fads (Garner, Garfinkel, Schwartz, &
Thompson, 1980; Mazur, 1986; Owen & Laurel-Seller,
2000; Voracek & Fisher, 2002; Wiseman, Gray, Mosi-
mann, & Ahrens, 1992). Continuous representations of
women in the media provide a medium for studying
changes across time and conditions. Although these
trends are intriguing, questions still remain regarding
why these trends occur, what societal and individual envi-
ronmental factors influence these trends, and how dif-
ferent theories can be used to explain these changing
preferences for facial and body characteristics in
women.
To explain how social preferences are affected by
changing environmental security conditions, Pettijohn
and Tesser (1999) offer the Environmental Security
Hypothesis. Building on existing evolutionary and social
ecological theories (Buss, 1994; Cunningham, 1986;
McArthur & Baron, 1983; Zebrowitz, Fellous, Mignault,
& Andreoletti, 2003), these researchers contend that
perceptions and feelings of environmental security influ-
ence facial feature preferences. Specifically, when condi-
tions are threatening and uncertain, individuals with
more mature facial features are preferred to a relatively
greater extent compared to preferences in less threaten-
ing conditions. Pettijohn and Tesser (1999) have found
evidence that popular American movie actresses from
1932-1995 with mature faces (small eyes, large chins,
thin faces) are preferred to a relatively greater extent in
social and economic hard times compared to social and
economic good times. However, this same pattern of
preferences was not found in a sample of popular Ameri-
can movie actors, suggesting that male appearance pref-
erence patterns are not equivalent (Pettijohn & Tesser,
2003). In addition, Pettijohn and Tesser (2004) have
1186
Authors’ Note: Preliminary findings of this research were presented at
the 15th annual American Psychological Society conference in Atlanta,
Georgia, May 2003. Special thanks to Stephanie Dulaney for her assis-
tance in measuring model faces and Abraham Tesser for his comments
on the article. Correspondence concerning this article or reprint re-
quests should be addressed to Terry F. Pettijohn II, Department of Psy-
chology, Mercyhurst College, Erie, PA 16546-0001; e-mail: terrypet@
usa.com.
PSPB, Vol. 30 No. 9, September 2004 1186-1197
DOI: 10.1177/0146167204264078
2004 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, In c.

found that when participants were subjected to threat in
a lab setting, they showed a general preference to work
with a female partner with smaller eyes (a mature fea-
ture) over a partner with larger eyes (a neotenous fea-
ture). These studies have focused on preferences for
facial features under conditions of threat but have not
tested changing preferences for mature body features.
The current study was undertaken to provide additional
support for the Environmental Security Hypothesis by
replicating previous findings using an alternative sample
and by expanding the set of predictions to investigate
preferences for mature body features under conditions
of threat.
The Environmental Security Hypothesis considers
evolutionary theory and further adjusts evolutionary
predictions of preferences within specific conditions of
historical and cultural variation. Evolutionary mate
selection theories (Buss, 1989; Buss & Barnes, 1986;
Symons, 1979) suggest that men and women select mates
to maximize reproduction success and cues of reproduc-
tive value in women are largely determined by physical
appearance. Preferences for specific facial and body fea-
tures that signal health and reproductive promise have
been explained in the context of evolutionary theory
(Buss, 1994; Fink & Penton-Voak, 2002; Singh, 1993;
Thornhill & Grammer, 1999). Many studies have cited
the importance of neotenous facial features in determin-
ing female attractiveness and have found support for
these ideas cross-culturally, suggesting this preference is
related to evolutionary influences (Cunningham, Rob-
erts, Barbee, Druen, & Wu, 1995; Jones, 1995; Zebrowitz,
1997). The Environmental Security Hypothesis suggests
that within these evolutionary preference findings, spe-
cifics of attractiveness may in part depend on how secure
people feel in their surroundings. Additional social
influences and contextual information may help to
explain the variability within these sets of evolutionary
preferences across time.
For example, Singh (1993) has examined the prefer-
ence for a certain waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) by conduct-
ing studies in which men rated the attractiveness of
female figures, which varied in total fat and WHR. Men
found the average figure to be the most attractive, and
regardless of the total amount of fat of the figures, men
found the figures with a low WHR most attractive. As
WHR increased, suggesting a less curvaceous and more
tubular figure, attractiveness ratings decreased. Figures
with a low WHR also were rated as healthier and of
greater reproductive value than those with a higher
WHR. Singh also analyzed Playboy centerfolds and win-
ners of Miss America beauty contests in the United States
across time through 1990. Singh found that Playboy Play-
mates’ WHR increased slightly from .68 to .71 for the
years examined. The models got thinner over the years,
indicated by the decreasing percentage of ideal body
weight, but the WHR remained relatively constant at .70.
But might these preferences be impacted by social and
economic security factors?
Consider work by Anderson, Crawford, Nadeau, and
Lindberg (1992), which found that the amount of
female body fat considered most attractive varies across
cultures. In cultures where women have limited eco-
nomic opportunities and wealth, body fat is considered
attractive and negatively correlated with women’s politi-
cal power and economic resources. The terms “fat” and
“curvaceous” are not interchangeable, but they are
related (Singh, 1993). Because women generally store
fat in their hips, buttocks, and breasts, increasing body
fat tends to increase curvaceousness, or the difference
between bust and waist and waist and hips. Larger bust-
to-waist ratios and smaller waist-to-hip ratios would
therefore denote greater degrees of curvaceousness.
Research also suggests that greater curvaceousness in
women is quite attractive to men (Furnham, Hester, &
Weir, 1990; Singh, 1993; Singh & Young, 1995).
Silverstein, Peterson, and Perdue (1986) investigated
changes in curvaceousness across time by measuring
models in Vogue and Ladies Home Journal between 1901
and 1981. They found that when more women gradu-
ated from college or entered the job market, the stan-
dard of attractiveness presented in popular women’s
magazines was less curvaceous. To support their predic-
tions, they explained that women with different body
shapes may develop different mating strategies and
means for obtaining economic resources. Curvaceous
women, which are more attractive to men, can use mar-
riage to gain resources for childrearing. Noncurvaceous
women are not as attractive to men so they must use alter-
native strategies and obtain economic independence
through their own means. In some cultures, marriage is
the only economic strategy for women, but in the United
States, women can pursue careers and have children.
Barber (1998a) tested the idea that the male standard
for a woman’s attractiveness is more curvaceous than the
female standard by measuring bust-to-waist ratios of Play-
boy models, Miss America winners, and models appear-
ing in Vogue magazine across time. Consistent with pre-
dictions, the male standards (Playboy models and Miss
America winners) varied less than the female standard
(Vogue), suggesting standards of attractiveness are influ-
enced by evolutionary factors. Barber (1998b) also sup-
ported his assertions by finding correlations between
curvaceousness of models in Vogue and Playboy with eco-
nomic growth (Standard and Poor’s index, per capita
gross national product), women’s participation in the
economy (percentage of married women working, ratio
of male to female undergraduate college enrollment,
ratio of male to female college degrees awarded), and
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