A study conducted in 2017 by researchers from Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, explored male physical attractiveness. They enlisted 160 women to participate in a process where they rated various male body types.
The findings, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, investigated the role of physical strength in men’s attractiveness to the opposite gender.
Participants were shown photographs of male torsos and asked to assess their attractiveness and perceived physical strength.
The male bodies rated varied widely, from university students to men who regularly exercised at the gym three to five times a week.
Remarkably, among the 160 women surveyed, none considered the less physically fit men to be the most attractive.
Men perceived as the ‘strongest’ were overwhelmingly deemed the ‘most attractive’, with 70 percent of them receiving this rating, while women generally appeared to favor tall, lean physiques.
Aaron Sell, a senior lecturer at the university who led the study, shared with The Guardian: “We weren’t surprised that women found physically strong men attractive… what did surprise us was just how powerful the effect was.”
“Our data couldn’t find even a single woman that preferred weaker or feminine male bodies.”
The study challenges the notion that extremely muscular men are unattractive due to an overemphasis on strength, a stereotype that suggests women do not favor extreme bodybuilder physiques.
Aaron Lukaszewski, an evolutionary psychologist at California State University, elaborated on the idea that such men historically offered advantages “in terms of the ability to acquire resources, protecting offspring, hunting and so on,” but acknowledged there could be downsides.
He noted: “[A]t a certain point, mating with highly dominant men, they can exert all this aggressive coercive control and there might be costs.”
Despite potential drawbacks associated with being ‘too muscular’, these issues seem to be overlooked by many women.
Nevertheless, this does not imply that ‘dad bods’ are suddenly unfashionable; the study simply suggests that ‘looking strong’ is key.
It’s worth noting that the research was limited to just 160 women, and various discussions on Reddit indicate some women prefer men with softer physiques.
One user commented: “For me the ‘ideal’ type of body would be something in-between a shredded guy and a dad bod one. You know when they’re bulking or they just generally are very muscular but also have that softness of the fat on top?”
Others highlighted that attractiveness involves more than just physical attributes, pointing to factors like romantic compatibility and personality traits such as kindness and care.
“I think the calm, gentle, kind, and caring personality associated with dad bods is attractive, and are willing to forgo a six-pack for that in some cases,” another user wrote.
The researchers acknowledged this perspective, noting: “Even if you’re a bit overweight, looking strong can buffer that.”
“Basically, being a strong, fat guy is OK, which I think would bring comfort to many.”
That’s reassuring for some.