Similar is beautiful : Evaluating attractiveness of different body shapes, height and weight of women regarding one's own body

Freud (1958; prema Patzer, 1985) navodi kako je atraktivna osoba ona koja je ugodna za promatranje, no istraživanja posljednjih nekoliko desetljeća ukazuju na mnoštvo faktora u pozadini „ugodnosti“. Atraktivna osoba može biti ona koja je zdravija, plodnija te nositelj boljih gena (Singh, 1993, 1994), koja je dobra osoba (Gross i Crofton, 1977), koja izgleda kao da posjeduje osobine ličnosti koje su nam bitne u partneru (Little, Burt i Perrett, 2006) te ona koja nam subjektivno ili objektivno sliči (Newcomb, 1956). Područje psihologije interpersonalne privlačnosti i danas nema sveobuhvatnu teoriju (Finkel i Eastwick, 2015), a problem je i priroda istraživanja koja su se uglavnom provodila na muškarcima, u vezi ženske atraktivnosti (Fisher i Voracek, 2005). Cilj je ovog istraživanja bio otkriti postoje li neke specifične fizičke značajke koje žene smatraju atraktivnima na vlastitom tijelu i tijelu drugih žena, te ispitati procjenu atraktivnosti, preferirane visine i težine za različite oblike tijela, u usporedbi s težinom, visinom i oblikom vlastitog tijela. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 807 studentica heteroseksualne orijentacije, starosti od 18 do 32 godine. Sudionice su najatraktivnijim procijenile oblik „užeg pješčanog sata“ (manji ITM), a najmanje atraktivnim oblik „kruga“ (androidni). Sudionice vlastiti oblik na drugim ženama nisu procijenile najatraktivnijim, uz iznimku djevojaka oblika tijela „pješčanog sata“ i „tubularnog“ oblika (oba oblika uže verzije, perceptivno manji ITM). Utvrđene su pozitivne korelacije vlastitih visina i težina te visina i težina koje su ispitanice preferirale za ponuđene oblike. Pri tom je najveća povezanost utvrđena za najatraktivnije procijenjen oblik.Freud (1958, according to Patzer, 1985) defined attractiveness as a feeling of pleasantness one has while observing someone, but in the last couple of decades studies have indicated that there is a lot more to the phenomena. Attractive person is healthier, has a greater chance of providing an offspring and, in general, has better genes (Singh, 1993, 1994). Another factor in being considered attractive is having certain physical traits that indicate desired personality traits (Gross & Crofton, 1977), as well as being perceived a good person (Little, Burt & Perrett, 2006) or similar to the perceiver (Newcomb, 1956). That being said, the field of research of interpersonal attractiveness still lacks an adequate theory (Finkel & Eastwick, 2015). One of its main drawbacks is the fact that the studies were focused mostly on men and their perception of female attractiveness. One of the aims of this study was to discover which physical traits women consider attractive both on themselves and other women. The other was to examine the relationship between their own height, weight and body shape and favored height, weight and body shape of other women. The research was conducted on 807 Croatian college students, exclusively female, between the ages of 18 to 32. It was necessary for all the participants to be heterosexual in order to avoid the „mate selection“ process. Participants evaluated „hourglass“ shape as the most and the „circular“ shape as the least favorable one. The participants did not consider their own body shape to be the most desirable, with the exception of women with the „hourglass“ and „tubular“ body shape (both shapes were thinner versions with seemingly smaller BMI). A positive correlation between the participant's own weight and height and preferred weight and height for target body shapes was found. The correlation was highest for the „hourglass“ body shape