Thin and muscular have been characterized as ideals for women and men, respectively. Little research has investigated whether men and women have accurate perceptions of opposite-sex preferences of thinness and muscularity. Further, no study has explored whether opposite-sex perceptions of thinness and muscularity preferences differ for short-term and long-term relationships. The present study set out to address these questions. We used interactive 3D human models to represent bodies varying in size (body mass index/BMI weight scaled by height) and body composition. University-aged (18-31) White European heterosexual men and women were asked to choose their own and ideal body shape, the ideal body shape for a short- and a long-term partner, and the body shape they thought the opposite-sex would most like for short- and long-term partners. Women overestimated the thinness that men prefer in a partner and men overestimated the heaviness and muscularity that women prefer in a partner. These misperceptions were more exaggerated for short-term relationships than for long-term relationships. The results illustrate the importance of investigating misperceptions of opposite-sex preferences and raise the possibility that correcting misperceptions might have utility in reducing body dissatisfaction or eating disorders.
Keywords: attractiveness; body size; misperception; muscularity; preferences.
© 2020 The Authors. British Journal of Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.