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Stress makes men prefer full women to thin women
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
Men under stress find overweight women more attractive than thin ones. Incorrect, this happens because the overweight partner seems more reliable and adapted to a difficult life.
Stress makes men prefer plump women to thin ones. Psychologists from the University of Westminster and Newcastle (both in the UK) invited volunteers under the guise of a job interview, which clearly put people under stress, or, on the contrary, organized a relaxing holiday for the invitees in a comfortable room. In total, about eighty men underwent the experiment.
After an interview or a relaxing holiday, the subject had to rate the attractiveness of the women in the photo. The ladies had shapes for every taste, from almost anorexic to obese. As the researchers write in the web journal PLoS ONE, the subjects who experienced stress preferred "women with a body," while their well-rested comrades "bet" on thin ones. The stressed considered normal-weight women more attractive, while the men who had experienced relaxation were attracted to below-normal weight.
Perhaps these results will be useful for overweight women who can’t find a partner (with your permission, we won’t allow ourselves jokes about “war veterans” and the psychological thriller that finding a partner can turn into). But seriously, you and I have something to think about from a sociocultural point of view: for example, how standards of female beauty change depending on the era and ethnic characteristics.
The study confirms the well-known hypothesis that stress makes an individual seek protection – and therefore the partner must look “reliable”. A full person is obviously more knowledgeable in obtaining food and has access to resources, i.e., can feed if necessary. In addition, considerations about procreation play a role: it is difficult for a woman who is too thin to get pregnant, bear a child and feed it, and the male does not need another stress – associated with the inability to leave his precious offspring.
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