A scientific study has revealed that men experiencing financial insecurity or hunger tend to find larger female breasts more attractive.
The research, published in PLOS ONE, a peer-reviewed publication, by psychologists Viren Swami and Martin J. Tovée, investigated whether breast size serves as an indicator of fat reserves and resource access, and whether men facing resource scarcity rate larger breast sizes more favourably than economically secure men.
The researchers conducted two separate experiments in Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
In the Malaysian study, 266 men from three locations representing low, medium and high socioeconomic backgrounds were assessed. Participants viewed rotating computer-generated images of women with varying breast sizes and rated their attractiveness.
Results demonstrated a distinct socioeconomic pattern. Men from low-income rural communities favoured larger breasts, whilst those from middle-income towns preferred medium to large breasts. Men from high-income urban areas showed preference for smaller to medium breasts.
“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,” the study stated.
The researchers observed that lower financial security correlated with stronger preference for larger breast size.
The second experiment examined hunger’s influence rather than income. In Britain, 124 male university students were split into two groups: 66 classified as hungry and 58 who had recently eaten. Both groups viewed identical breast size images under the same conditions.
Hungry participants consistently rated larger breasts as more attractive compared to satiated men.
“Hungry men rated a significantly larger breast size as more physically attractive than did the satiated group. Taken together, these studies provide evidence that resource security impacts upon men’s attractiveness ratings based on women’s breast size,” the researchers stated.
The psychologists explained that these variations suggest attraction is not fixed but responds to immediate circumstances. They noted that men experiencing hunger or financial pressure may assign greater value to physical characteristics signalling resource access or stability.
The study concluded that temporary states such as hunger can influence attraction similarly to long-term economic conditions, supporting the notion that social and environmental factors significantly shape judgements of physical attractiveness.
