Breast Size and Attraction: Exploring Evolution, and Preferences
It is said that men’s supposed consistent preference for a specific breast size is used to support the argument that it is an evolutionary adaptation.
However, for this to be credible, it must be demonstrated that the attractive features men report provide indications of women’s reproductive potential or health. Nonetheless, such preferences could be predominantly or entirely shaped by culture, possibly influenced by particular Western media standards of female beauty. Numerous studies have explored the perceived attractiveness of women’s breasts, with a particular focus on size since the 1960s. One notable study conducted by Jerry Wiggins and his team in 1968 used nude female silhouettes to evaluate men’s preferences for breasts, buttocks, and legs. The study involved 95 male undergraduates who rated images of varying sizes for each body region.
The primary aim of the study was to identify personality traits linked to preferences, but the findings revealed some intriguing baseline data. While men found larger breasts more attractive than smaller ones, moderate breast size was preferred over the largest size presented. Subsequent studies on breast size attractiveness ratings have produced inconsistent results, with preferences for small, medium, or large breasts reported.
However, overall, medium-sized breasts have generally been rated the most attractive by men. For example, a 2013 study by Viren Swami and Martin Tovée used advanced 3D rotating models, and the results aligned with the initial findings of Wiggins and his colleagues. One-third of men rated medium breasts as the most appealing, while only a quarter of participants preferred large breasts, and just one in ten chose very large breasts. Swami and Tovée delved into the realm of social influences by examining a London community of British white men. Their investigation revealed a strong correlation between a preference for larger breasts and a higher likelihood of exhibiting traits of benevolent sexism, objectification of women, and hostility towards them.
Cross-cultural studies are crucial for understanding universal responses that may have an evolutionary basis, regardless of social norms. In a 2010 study, Barnaby Dixson and his team used a questionnaire to evaluate men’s preferences for breast size in images of women. They surveyed over 200 men in New Zealand, Samoa, and Papua New Guinea.
The results showed that Papua New Guinean men had a stronger preference for larger breasts compared to New Zealanders, while Samoan men were somewhere in the middle. Interestingly, unmarried and married men had different preferences in New Zealand. Bachelors preferred medium-sized breasts while married men preferred larger breasts. There were also differences between cultures. Samoan men preferred larger breasts overall and showed a distinction between unmarried and married men like New Zealanders. In Papua New Guinea, however, there was little difference between unmarried and married men; both preferred large breasts. In a 2017 study, Jan Havlíček and his colleagues evaluated men’s preferences for breast size and shape in four cultures: Brazil, Cameroon, the Czech Republic, and Namibia.
They hypothesized that breast firmness, which declines with age and successive births, could indicate residual fertility. They found that men in all four cultures preferred breasts of intermediate size, but breast firmness was consistently preferred across all cultures. This supports the idea that breast shape indicates residual fertility. Breast size can provide evidence about hormone levels. A study in 2004 by Grazyna Jasieńska and her colleagues monitored the menstrual cycles of over 100 Polish women aged 24–37 years.
They found that women with large breasts and narrow waists had higher levels of the female hormone oestradiol, which could indicate higher fertility. In a follow-up study, Rachel Grillot and her colleagues monitored the hormones of 33 female students aged around 19 years. They found that attractiveness was negatively correlated with body mass index (BMI) and positively correlated with oestradiol levels. This result is similar to the one found by Jasieńska and colleagues. However, both studies lacked effective cross-cultural comparisons. People around the world seek cosmetic surgery to change the size of their breasts. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, breast augmentation has been the most popular cosmetic procedure in the USA since 2006, with 313,000 procedures recorded in 2018 alone. However, cosmetic breast modification can also involve reduction, with approximately 43,600 reductions for aesthetic reasons recorded in both 2017 and 2018.
In a 2003 survey by Elizabeth Didie and David Sarwer, women who decided to undergo cosmetic breast augmentation expressed greater dissatisfaction with their breasts than those who did not seek surgery. However, the two groups did not differ in overall dissatisfaction with their body images or awareness of sociocultural influences. Women seeking augmentation were primarily motivated by their feelings about their breasts, and external influences, such as expectations of romantic partners or societal beauty standards, were less significant. Brazil reportedly has the highest demand for breast augmentation, but such interventions are prevalent worldwide.
Take-home messages
In summary, a woman’s breast size before pregnancy is not related to her milk production capacity, but the increase in size during pregnancy is. Evolutionary explanations for men’s attraction to breasts as a sign of reproductive capacity must therefore look elsewhere. Studies suggest that men prefer medium-sized breasts rather than large ones, and cosmetic breast augmentation is mainly driven by a woman’s body image concerns rather than male preferences.
Attempts to link breast size preferences to fertility indicators have been inconsistent across cultures and complicated by various factors such as BMI, breast firmness, nipple and areola shape, and men’s marital status.