The importance of physical attractiveness for mate selection has been known since the Walster, Aronson, Abrahams, and Rottman (1966) study. They investigated factors that influence an interest for a potential partner during “blind dates” (e.g., masculinity/femininity, personality, intelligence, similarity). The most important characteristic was found to be physical attractiveness. Further studies have shown that, in mate selection, physical attractiveness seems to be universally important. It was shown, for example, by Buss (1989) in his cross-cultural research conducted in 37 cultures. Lippa (2007) replicated that finding in 53 countries (internet study on 200,000 people).

For several decades, psychologists have been studying ideals and elements of beauty. After 1966, the term “physical attractiveness” was used in more than 1700 articles in WEB of Science (ISI Web of Knowledge) and Google Scholar links this topic with 357,000 works. However, it should be highlighted that the majority of these studies were conducted among Western societies (or industrialized Asian countries like Japan or China). The low cultural variation of the samples is a weakness, limiting the possibility of investigating the universality of the human attractiveness or generalizing the findings (e.g., Cunningham, Roberts, Wu, Barbee, & Druen, 1995; Langlois et al., 2000).

Data from cultures weakly influenced by Western cultures are scarce (e.g., the Matsigenka of Peru: Yu & Shepard, 1998; the Hadza of Tanzania: Wetsman & Marlowe, 1999; Bakossi of Cameroon: Dixson, Dixson, Morgan, & Anderson, 2007; Shiwiar of Ecuador: Sugiyama, 2004; Kanite of Papua New Guinea: Dixson, Sagata, Linklater, & Dixson, 2010). These studies show, however, that preferences for body shape are not identical across the world. Because in different populations (e.g., hunter-gatherers vs. highly developed) various phenotypic traits can be adaptive, classical natural and sexual selection theories might explain the existence of these differences. For example, one of the biological mechanisms proposed on the basis of natural and sexual selection and explaining the existing cross-cultural differences in attractiveness preferences is the central tendency (Symons, 1979), i.e., preference for the average for particular traits. Symons suggested that the average in the local population often approximates the naturally selected optimal design and this presumption was confirmed by numerous studies (e.g., Jones, 1996; Jones & Hill, 1993).

Which elements of the human body determine its attractiveness? The results of research have linked it with, among others, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), height or sexual dimorphism in stature (SDS), and leg-to-body ratio (LBR). A short review concerning preferences for these body proportions is presented below.

Waist to Hip Ratio Preferences

Singh (1993) showed that WHR close to 0.7 is one of the most important markers of female attractiveness. Singh suggested that WHR is a reliable marker of reproductive abilities and women’s health. Many studies conducted both before and after Singh’s observation confirmed his hypothesis. First of all, WHR (distribution of adipose tissue) is a result of the activity of male and female sex hormones (Björntorp, 1991; Jasieńska, Ziomkiewicz, Ellison, Lipson, & Thune, 2004). Low WHR is also a reliable marker of probability of conception during in vitro fertilization (Waas, Waldenstrom, Rossner, & Hellberg, 1997). Additionally, the WHR of women decreases (becomes more attractive) during puberty and increases again after menopause (Kirschner & Samojlik, 1991). Finally, it was shown that low WHR is a reliable marker of a woman’s health (e.g., cardiovascular diseases, diabetes) (Singh, 2006).

Probably because of the relationship between reproductive health and WHR, this trait was suggested to be a relatively universal attractiveness marker. Similar results to the classical Singh (1993) study were obtained in, among others, Europe (e.g., Furnham, Tan, & McManus, 1997; Rozmus-Wrzesinska & Pawlowski, 2005), Indonesia (Singh & Luis, 1995), Guinea Bissau (Singh, 2004), Cameroon (Dixson et al., 2007), and Papua New Guinea (Dixson, Sagata et al., 2010). Therefore, it can be presumed that men’s attraction to women of certain body proportions might indicate a natural and universal preference for healthy and fertile partners.

Data obtained in a few hunter-gatherer societies, like the Hadza tribe from Tanzania, the Matsiguenka from Peru or the Shiwiar from Ecuador, showed that high WHR was preferred in women in such populations (Marlowe & Wetsman, 2001; Sugiyama, 2004; Wetsman & Marlowe, 1999; Yu & Shepard, 1998). A few hypotheses explaining such preferences exist, but generally it was suggested that it was a result of the stimuli used. In a recent study, Marlowe, Apicella, and Reed (2005) showed line drawings that varied in WHR with a profile view of a silhouette designed to look like a young Hadza woman whose buttocks were visible. In this study, Hadza men judged the 0.6 WHR to be most attractive.

Additionally, in non-industrialized populations, women of higher body mass are preferred (Cassidy, 1991) and silhouettes of higher WHR (when WHR is modified by changes in width of waist) are perceived as having higher body mass index (BMI) (Rozmus-Wrzesińska & Pawlowski, 2005). The question of whether female WHR is equally as important as Body Mass Index (BMI) in attractiveness ratings is currently under debate. On the one hand, some researchers suggest it is the BMI that drives mate selection, as it accounts for greater variance in attractiveness scores than WHR (Tovee, Maisey, Emery, & Cornelissen, 1999). On the other hand, many new studies have confirmed the high importance of WHR in perceiving female silhouettes. It has been shown that in both Western (Singh & Randall, 2007) and non-Western cultures (Dixson, Li, & Dixson, 2010; Singh, Dixson, Jessop, Morgan, & Dixson, 2010) women who had undergone micrograft surgery that decreased their WHR were judged to be most attractive regardless of fluctuations in their BMI. Further, Platek and Singh (2010) have shown, using fMRI brain scanning, that men’s brain areas concerned with reward showed significantly greater activation when they viewed post-operative, as compared to pre-operative, micrograft images.

Height Preferences

Height is regarded as one of the most important characteristics of men’s physical attractiveness and may thus serve as an initial criterion for women to decide upon further interest and engagement in a courtship situation (Pierce, 1996). Previous research in Western societies has shown that women prefer relatively tall men as potential partners whereas men prefer women slightly shorter than themselves (Pawlowski & Koziel, 2002; Salska et al., 2008; Shepperd & Strathman, 1989). Recent research has emphasized the significance of relative (rather than absolute) body height when studying men’s and women’s height preferences in a romantic relationship. Such research involves investigation of preferences for the difference between one’s own height and the height of a preferred partner (Fink, Neave, Brewer, & Pawlowski, 2007; Pawlowski, 2003). Taken together, these studies showed that both men and women adjusted their SDS preferences according to their own body height; however, a few participants chose the option of a woman being slightly taller than a man.

To date, ET LEAST two studies have reported data that question the universality of the “male-taller norm.” Sear and Marlowe (2009) reported that in the Hadza society (Tanzania), in 8.2% of 207 marriages the wife was taller than the husband, which was significantly higher than in Western societies. Sorokowski, Sorokowska, Fink, and Mberira (2012) reported data on SDS preferences of another traditional ethnic group—the Himba of northern Namibia. Contrary to Western societies, many Himba preferred partners of height equal to their own. This finding demonstrates that the “male-taller norm” reported in Western samples, was much less pronounced in the Himba tribe. It is known that people’s variation in body height is affected not only by genetic differences, but also by environmental influences. Lower height in humans can result from malnutrition, stress or various infectious diseases (Beard & Blaser, 2002). This is why it might be hypothesized that height preferences may be influenced by environmental and ecological conditions (e.g., in harsh conditions taller height might be preferred).

Height, similarly to WHR, might also be related to the reproductive success of an individual. Within Western populations, taller men had greater reproductive success (e.g., U.S.: Mueller & Mazur, 2001; Poland: Pawlowski, Dunbar, & Lipowicz, 2000) and the opposite relationship was observed in women (e.g., UK: Nettle, 2002). However, the results from populations of natural birth control are less consistent. For example, some studies showed the opposite correlation between male height and number of children (e.g., !Kung San from Northern Namibia: Kirchengast & Winkler, 1995; broad description of research about height and reproductive success: Sear, 2010).

Leg Length Preferences

Another morphological feature possibly influencing the judgments of attractiveness is the leg-to-body ratio (LBR). Several reasons why leg length could have an impact on the general human attractiveness can be indicated: (1) Relative leg length might be a credible cue to health status (Davey Smith et al., 2001; Lawlor, Taylor, Davey Smith, Gunnell, & Ebrahim, 2004) and the early childhood environmental influences on the organism (illnesses, malnutrition) (Wadsworth, Hardy, Paul, Marshall, & Cole, 2002); (2) Relatively short legs in women might be a sign of lower reproductive capabilities (Fielding et al., 2008); (3) Leg length might be an indicator of biomechanical efficacy (e.g., running or swimming ability) (Cavanagh & Kram, 1989), which was important in our evolutionary past. For a review and broader explanation of these parameters see Bogin and Varela-Silva (2010).

It was shown that people perceive a relatively high (but not extremely high) LBR as attractive in women (Bertamini & Bennett, 2009; Rilling, Kaufman, Smith, Patel, & Worthman, 2009; Sorokowski & Pawlowski, 2008; Swami, Einon, & Furnham, 2006; but see Frederick, Hadji-Michael, Furnham, & Swami, 2010) and men (Sorokowski & Pawlowski, 2008, Sorokowski et al., 2011; but see Swami et al., 2006). At the same time, excessively long or short legs were perceived as less attractive in both sexes. This is consistent with the notion that large deviations of any trait from the population average are usually maladaptive and therefore perceived as less attractive (Symons, 1979).

Data regarding LBR preferences in different cultures were collected by Sorokowski et al. (2011), who investigated it in 27 nations. While the silhouettes with short and excessively long legs were perceived as less attractive and silhouettes with LBRs close to the average were perceived as most attractive across all nations, too long legs were generally more attractive than too short. The LBR preferences were only slightly modified by the participants’ origin. Europeans, together with Canadians and Africans, preferred a relatively high LBR, and Latin Americans a relatively low LBR. However, the majority of participants originated from urban areas within their respective countries—still, the preferences for high LBR seemed not to be directly related to contact with Western culture (as Nigerians and Georgians preferred higher LBR than Britons and Canadians).

Studies demonstrating relatively high cross-cultural differences in LBR preferences also exist. Swami, Einon, and Furnham (2007) showed that, for British participants, a relatively high LBR was preferred in women and a relatively low LBR in men, whereas rural Malaysian participants rated medium female LBR and low male LBR as the most attractive. Also, the results obtained among the Himba people (Sorokowski, Sorokowska, & Mberira, in press) differed from previous studies (Bertamini & Bennett, 2009; Sorokowski & Pawlowski, 2008; Sorokowski et al., 2011; Swami et al., 2006). It was the first population where attractive female LBR was lower than attractive male LBR. These results showed that leg length might not be a universal attractiveness marker and preferences for this body component could be related to a specific environment or culture.

As preferences for described body proportions (WHR, SDS, LBR) were investigated mainly in Western cultures, the aim of the current study was to examine the preferences of a relatively isolated population (i.e., the Yali of Papua).