Lumbar curvature: a previously undiscovered standard of attractiveness

Simple item page
dc.citation.epage350en_US
dc.citation.issueNumber5en_US
dc.citation.spage345en_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber36en_US
dc.contributor.authorLewis, D. M. G.en_US
dc.contributor.authorRussell, E. M.en_US
dc.contributor.authorAl-Shawaf, L.en_US
dc.contributor.authorBuss, D. M.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2016-02-08T09:41:33Z
dc.date.available2016-02-08T09:41:33Z
dc.date.issued2015en_US
dc.description.abstractThis paper reports independent studies supporting the proposal that human standards of attractiveness reflect the output of psychological adaptations to detect fitness-relevant traits. We tested novel a priori hypotheses based on an adaptive problem uniquely faced by ancestral hominin females: a forward-shifted center of mass during pregnancy. The hominin female spine possesses evolved morphology to deal with this adaptive challenge: wedging in the third-to-last lumbar vertebra. Among ancestral women, vertebral wedging would have minimized the net fitness threats posed by hypolordosis and hyperlordosis, thereby creating selective pressures on men to prefer such women as mates. On this basis, we hypothesized that men possess evolved mate preferences for women with this theoretically optimal angle of lumbar curvature. In Study 1, as hypothesized, men's attraction toward women increased as women's lumbar curvature approached this angle. However, vertebral wedging and buttock mass can both influence lumbar curvature. Study 2 thus employed a forced-choice paradigm in which men selected the most attractive woman among models exhibiting the same lumbar curvature, but for different morphological reasons. Men again tended to prefer women exhibiting cues to a degree of vertebral wedging closer to optimum. This included preferring women whose lumbar curvature specifically reflected vertebral wedging rather than buttock mass. These findings reveal novel, theoretically anchored, and previously undiscovered standards of attractiveness.en_US
dc.description.provenanceMade available in DSpace on 2016-02-08T09:41:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 bilkent-research-paper.pdf: 70227 bytes, checksum: 26e812c6f5156f83f0e77b261a471b5a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015en
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2015.01.007en_US
dc.identifier.issn1090-5138
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11693/21125
dc.publisherElsevieren_US
dc.relation.isversionofhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2015.01.007en_US
dc.source.titleEvolution and Human Behavioren_US
dc.subjectEvolutionary psychologyen_US
dc.subjectLumbar curvatureen_US
dc.subjectMate preferencesen_US
dc.subjectPhysical attractivenessen_US
dc.titleLumbar curvature: a previously undiscovered standard of attractivenessen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Lumbar curvature a previously undiscovered standard of attractiveness.pdf
Size:
564.06 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Full printable version
Download

Collections

Scholarly Publications - Psychology