A team led by psychologists Viren Swami and Martin Tovée asked whether breast size works as a rough signal of fat reserves. They guessed that men who feel short of money—or just plain hungry—would rate larger breasts more highly than men who feel financially safe and full.
They ran two tests, one in Malaysia and one in Britain.
The researchers asked 266 men in low-, middle- and high-income areas to score computer images of women with different breast sizes.
– Rural, low-income group: big breasts won.
– Town-dwelling, middle-income group: medium-to-large breasts came out on top.
– City, high-income group: smaller-to-medium breasts were preferred.
The authors write: “Men from relatively low socioeconomic sites rated larger breast sizes as more physically attractive than did participants in moderate socioeconomic sites, who in turn rated larger breast sizes as more attractive than individuals in a high socioeconomic site.”
Back in the UK, 124 male students were split between 66 who hadn’t eaten and 58 who had just had lunch. Same result: the hungry lot gave higher scores to larger breasts. The researchers conclude: “Taken together, these studies provide evidence that resource security impacts upon men’s attractiveness ratings based on women’s breast size.”
Attraction seems to shift with surroundings, not just individual taste. When a man is hungry or worried about money, traits hinting at stored fat—and therefore resource access—look more appealing. The study appears in the journal PLOS ONE.
