一项新的研究发现,对称的身体对男性和女性都更具吸引力。此前的研究表明,脸越对称,观察者也就认为其越美丽,但是身体对称和吸引力的关系尚不明确。进化论预计非对称的身体很可能是由于疾病或者艰难的环境造成的,因此一个身体形状非对称的伴侣可能不是一个好的选择。
William Brown及其同事利用了三维光学扫描仪创建了77名人类受试者的身体形状的详细图像,然后使用计算机生成中性色彩的没有头部的图像,让实验参与者评价异性身体的吸引力的高低。男性和女性都报告说对称的身体比非对称的身体更具吸引力。这组科学家利用数学分析还发现了一个称为“身体男性度”的属性,即身高、肩宽、胸窄和其他男性特征的组合。实验参与者指出了有吸引力的男性和女性与身体对称性有关的类似的特征,他们认为身体男性度高的对称的男性更具吸引力,而身体男性度低的匀称的女性也被认为更具吸引力。相关论文发表在美国《国家科学院院刊》(PNAS)上。(生物谷Bioon.com)
生物谷推荐原始出处:
PNAS,doi: 10.1073/pnas.0710420105,William M. Brown,Hui Yu
Fluctuating asymmetry and preferences for sex-typical bodily characteristics
William M. Brown*,?,?, Michael E. Price*,?, Jinsheng Kang§, Nicholas Pound*,?, Yue Zhao§, and Hui Yu§
Abstract
Body size and shape seem to have been sexually selected in a variety of species, including humans, but little is known about what attractive bodies signal about underlying genotypic or phenotypic quality. A widely used indicator of phenotypic quality in evolutionary analyses is degree of symmetry (i.e., fluctuating asymmetry, FA) because it is a marker of developmental stability, which is defined as an organism's ability to develop toward an adaptive end-point despite perturbations during its ontogeny. Here we sought to establish whether attractive bodies signal low FA to observers, and, if so, which aspects of attractive bodies are most predictive of lower FA. We used a 3D optical body scanner to measure FA and to isolate size and shape characteristics in a sample of 77 individuals (40 males and 37 females). From the 3D body scan data, 360° videos were created that separated body shape from other aspects of visual appearance (e.g., skin color and facial features). These videos then were presented to 87 evaluators for attractiveness ratings. We found strong negative correlations between FA and bodily attractiveness in both sexes. Further, sex-typical body size and shape characteristics were rated as attractive and correlated negatively with FA. Finally, geometric morphometric analysis of joint configurations revealed that sex-typical joint configurations were associated with both perceived attractiveness and lower FA for male but not for female bodies. In sum, body size and shape seem to show evidence of sexual selection and indicate important information about the phenotypic quality of individuals.