Researchers have unearthed the male physique that women supposedly find ‘most attractive’ – and it makes for some surprising results.
The so-called ‘dad bod’, famously rocked by celebs from ‘Aquaman’ Jason Momoa to heart-throbs like Leonardo DiCaprio, has seemingly become the favored male physique in the eyes of women.
However, science apparently says otherwise…
The 2017 study, carried out by researchers from Griffith University, Queensland, Australia, examined male bodily attractiveness with the help of 160 women to help with the ‘rating’ process.
The research – published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B – put physical strength under the microscope to determine just how important men’s bodily attractiveness to the opposite sex.
Photographs of torsos were shown to the participants who were asked to rate their attractiveness or physical strength.
The bodies that were rated crossed demographics, from university students to men who worked out three to five times a week in the gym.
And interestingly, out of all the 160 women surveyed, not a single woman deemed the less physically fit the most attractive.
The men labeled the ‘strongest’ dominated the charts with 70 percent of them considered the ‘most attractive’ out of all the options – and found women tend to prefer tall and lean men overall.
Senior lecturer at the university Aaron Sell, who led the study, told The Guardian: “We weren’t surprised that women found physically strong men attractive… what did surprise us was just how powerful the effect was.
“Our data couldn’t find even a single woman that preferred weaker or feminine male bodies.”
The analysis stands to disprove the theory that Hulk-like men who amass too much strength go too far the other way, with women supposedly rejecting the extreme bodybuilder physique.
Aaron Lukaszewski, an evolutionary psychologist at California State University, explained the theory as such men have benefits ‘ancestrally, in terms of the ability to acquire resources, protecting offspring, hunting and so on’ but that it comes with a cost.
He continued: “[A]t a certain point, mating with highly dominant men, they can exert all this aggressive coercive control and there might be costs.”
But even if there are perceived problems with being ‘too muscular’, it apparently bypasses the female gaze.
However, that’s actually not to say ‘dad bods’ are out of fashion all of a sudden – instead the study said simply ‘looking strong’ is the ticket.
That and the research was limited to just 160 women, and many female users on Reddit disagree that they are more inclined to like muscly men.
One user said: “For me the ‘ideal’ type of body would be something in-between a shredded guy and a dad bod one. You know when they’re bulking or they just generally are very muscular but also have that softness of the fat on top?”
But many emphasized that attractiveness runs deeper than physical appearance, such as romantic compatibility and caring traits.
“I think the calm, gentle, kind, and caring personality associated with dad bods attractive, and are willing to forgo a six pack for that in some cases,” another wrote.
The researchers didn’t disagree either, adding to their study: “Even if you’re a bit overweight, looking strong can buffer that.
“Basically, being a strong, fat guy is OK, which I think would bring comfort to many.”
Phew.
