Why is low waist-to-chest ratio attractive in males? The mediating roles of perceived dominance, fitness, and protection ability

• Men's lower waist-to-chest ratio predicted greater perceptions of attractiveness.
• Perceived physical dominance mediated short- and long-term attractiveness.
• Perceived fitness mediated short-term attractiveness.
• Perceived protection ability mediated long-term attractiveness.
• Perceived fitness contributed to perceptions of protection ability.

Past research suggests that a lower waist-to-chest ratio (WCR) in men (i.e., narrower waist and broader chest) is viewed as attractive by women. However, little work has directly examined why low WCRs are preferred. The current work merged insights from theory and past research to develop a model examining perceived dominance, fitness, and protection ability as mediators of to WCR-attractiveness relationship. These mediators and their link to both short-term (sexual) and long-term (relational) attractiveness were simultaneously tested by having 151 women rate one of 15 avatars, created from 3D body scans. Men with lower WCR were perceived as more physically dominant, physically fit, and better able to protect loved ones; these characteristics differentially mediated the effect of WCR on short-term, long-term, and general attractiveness ratings. Greater understanding of the judgments women form regarding WCR may yield insights into motivations by men to manipulate their body image.