Mate preferences are context-dependent and may vary with different ecological conditions and raters. As predicted, men with higher SOI-R scores unrestricted generally gave higher ratings than did men who scored lower on the SOI-R restricted , but the difference was significant only at larger breast sizes. We also found that medium to large sizes were rated as the most attractive by both male groups and that viewing angle changed rating of female attractiveness and breast presented in oblique view were rated generally higher than in side view.
The results of the study indicate that sociosexuality influences male perception of female breast attractiveness and confirm that accentuation of female-specific physical traits produces a stronger response in unrestricted than in restricted men. Men are attracted to a number of physical characteristics in women, including youth cues, face shape, symmetry, waist-to-hip ratio WHR , distribution of fat reserves, and other secondary sexual traits Barber, ; Buss, ; Singh, , Female breasts are one of the secondary sexual traits that attract male attention and influence male judgments of attractiveness.
Furnham and Swami showed that attractiveness ratings were even more strongly influenced by breast size than by buttock size and hence WHR when the female figure was presented in side view. This appears to have been confirmed by Lynn , who showed experimentally, for an American sample, that breast size matters more than breast shape in attractiveness rating. Previous research suggested that men across cultures may have a profound preference toward female morphology that signals nulliparity Jones, ; therefore, if breast size is a strong cue of female age and as it increases after pregnancy, men should prefer breasts of smaller size.
Cross-cultural studies showed that men from New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa, despite the difference in preference for areola color, equally prefer medium and large breast sizes over small ones Dixson et al.
For instance, men in developing societies and working class backgrounds have a preference for plumper women Anderson et al. Human sexual strategies are integrated sets of adaptations that drive reproductive effort in the direction of higher fitness. Men with a short-term mating strategy tend to pursue temporary, low-commitment sexual relationships with multiple partners. They should thus be strongly interested in cues that signal, in a prospective mate, fertility and health, but also willing to engage in short-term mating.
