African-American males prefer a larger female body silhouette than do whites

Abstract

African-American and white college males volunteered to participate in a study of preferences for a side-view silhouette of a female figure. The figures were on a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 to 8, with 1 being a very thin figure and 8 being an obese figure. The subjects indicated their thinnest and largest acceptable and preferred female body shape for women in several roles: date, sexual partner, wife, mother, sister, teacher, employer, grandmother, girlfriend, and female friend. African-American males were predicted to select larger body shapes than were whites because of cultural differences in standards of attractiveness. In general, the results confirmed these hypotheses: African-American males always chose a larger ideal female silhouette and were not as tolerant as whites of very thin figures. These results were suggested to be a potential variable accounting for racial differences in females’ body dissatisfaction. © 1993, Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.