Cross-cultural differences in the evaluation of male and female body shapes

TLDR

The study uses drawings depicting a spectrum from extreme obesity to extreme anorexia to examine cross‑cultural perceptions of body image, attractiveness, and eating disorders. British and Ugandan students rated 24 male and female figure drawings on 72 bipolar scales. Cultural differences were strongest for extreme figures, with Ugandans finding obese females and anorexic males more attractive than British participants, and no significant sex or sex‑by‑culture effects. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Abstract

Comparable groups of British and Ugandan students rated 24 drawings of male and female figures on 72 bipolar scales. The drawings represented figures ranging from extremely obese to extremely anorexic. Multivariate and univariate analyses showed that the major cultural differences occurred with the more extreme figures. Ugandans rated the more obese female and the more anorexic male figures as more attractive than the British subjects. There were surprisingly few sex of subject or sex × culture of subject interactions. The results are discussed in terms of the burgeoning literature on cross-cultural differences in the determinants of body image, stereotypic attractiveness, and eating disorders. © 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.