Body Beautiful Evolutionary and Socio-Cultural Perspectives

by Furnham, Adrian; Swami, Viren

• ISBN13: 9780230521865
• ISBN10: 023052186X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-01-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Attempts to provide definitive answers to the secrets of human beauty have persisted for hundreds of years. In this volume, contributors from a range of perspectives--evolutionary psychology to anthropology, sociology to cognitive and motivational psychology--explore the questions of what our attractiveness preferences are and why we find certain others physically attractive. The research and theoretical contributions presented in this volume offer a fresh perspective to understanding the perception of attractiveness, particularly as it relates to bodily attractiveness.

Author Biography

VIREN SWAMI is a Research Associate at the University of Liverpool. He received his doctorate from University College London, where he specialised in evolutionary psychology. His current research interests include interpersonal attraction, especially across cultures, and gender studies. He is the author of The Missing Arms of Venus de Milo and (with Adrian Furnham) of The Psychology of Physcial Attraction, as well as numerous psychological studies.
ADRIAN FURNHAM is an organisational and applied psychologist, management expert and Professor of Psychology at University College London. His research interests are numerous and varied, and in addition to his academic roles, he is a consultant on organisational behaviour and management, writer and broadcaster. He is a prolific writer, is the author, among other books, of The Psychology of Behaviour at Work, Culture Shock and Personality at Work.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables	p. vii
Notes on Contributors	p. x
Preface	p. xvii
Introduction
Mutual and Partaken Bliss: Introducing the Science of Bodily Beauty	p. 3
Methodological Critiques
Waist-to-Hip Ratios and Female Attractiveness: Comparing Apples, Oranges, and Pears	p. 15
The Volume-Height Index as a Body Attractiveness Index	p. 29
Methodological Issues in Studies of Female Attractiveness	p. 46
Attractiveness Research Across Cultures
An Evolutionary Perspective on Male Preferences for Female Body Shape	p. 65
Masculinity, Culture, and the Paradox of the Lek	p. 88
Healthy Body Equals Beautiful Body? Changing Perceptions of Health and Attractiveness with Shifting Socioeconomic Status	p. 108
Theory Development: Evolutionary Perspectives
The Shaping of Women's Bodies: Men's Choice of Fertility or Heat Stress Avoidance?	p. 131
Interpersonal Metaperception: The Importance of Compatibility in the Aesthetic Appreciation of Bodily Cues	p. 159
Mate Preferences in Social Cognitive Context: When Environmental and Personal Change Leads to Predictable Cross-Cultural Variation	p. 185
Theory Development: Sociocultural Perspectives
The Roles of Stereotypes and Group Norms on Perceptions of Bodily Attractiveness	p. 209
Feminism and Body Image	p. 236
The Impact of Western Beauty Ideals on the Lives of Women: A Sociocultural Perspective	p. 259
Index	p. 299
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