RACIAL-DIFFERENCES IN BODY TYPE PREFERENCES OF MEN FOR WOMEN

Objective: Research indicates that African-American women have a signi ficantly higher prevalence of obesity, a markedly lower prevalence of eating disorders, and greater satisfaction with their bodies than Euro -American women. One potential contributing explanation for this diffe rence may be differential body type preferences between the men in the two communities. Method: Sixty-three African-American and 116 Euro-Am erican men were asked to rank, in order of attractiveness, a series of silhouettes of women of varying sizes. Additionally, they answered qu estions concerning their current relationships. Results: Euro-American s chose significantly thinner figures, and reported wishing their girl friends would lose weight significantly more often than African-Americ ans. Discussion: These differential preferences may translate into gre ater pressure within the Euro-American community for women to be thin than in the African-American community; however, a small effect size s uggests that factors other than race contribute to men's body type pre ferences. (C) 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.