RESEARCH ARTICLE
Waist-to-Hip Ratio Sensitivity in Early Infancy
Hannah White,
Alyson Chroust,
Rachel Jubran,
Alison Heck,
Ramesh S. Bhatt,
Hannah White
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Search for more papers by this authorAlyson Chroust
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Search for more papers by this authorRachel Jubran
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Search for more papers by this authorAlison Heck
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Ramesh S. Bhatt
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Correspondence
Ramesh S. Bhatt, Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044.
Email: rbhatt@email.uky.edu
Present address
Alyson Chroust, Department of Psychology, East Tennesee State University, P.O. Box 70649, Johnson City, TN 37614-1710.
Search for more papers by this authorHannah White,
Alyson Chroust,
Rachel Jubran,
Alison Heck,
Ramesh S. Bhatt,
Hannah White
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Search for more papers by this authorAlyson Chroust
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Search for more papers by this authorRachel Jubran
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Search for more papers by this authorAlison Heck
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Ramesh S. Bhatt
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky
Correspondence
Ramesh S. Bhatt, Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044.
Email: rbhatt@email.uky.edu
Present address
Alyson Chroust, Department of Psychology, East Tennesee State University, P.O. Box 70649, Johnson City, TN 37614-1710.
Search for more papers by this authorFunding information: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Grant/Award Number: HD075829
Abstract
The waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is correlated with health and associated with sex, attractiveness, and age judgments by adults. We examined the development of sensitivity to the WHR by testing 3.5-month-old infants' (N = 71) preference between images depicting different WHRs. Female 3.5-month-olds exhibited a preference for the WHR associated with attractiveness and mate value by adults (0.7) over a larger WHR (0.9). This preference was exhibited when infants were tested on upright stimuli but not when they were tested on inverted stimuli, indicating that low-level differences (e.g., curviness) were not driving performance. This sensitivity to WHR may lay the foundation for more explicit preferences and categorical associations later in life. In contrast to females, male infants failed to exhibit a significant preference for the 0.7 WHR in either orientation, replicating previous findings of female infants' superior processing of social stimuli. Implications for theories of the development of body knowledge and sex differences in social information processing are discussed.
Highlights
- Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is a significant social cue for adults, with 0.7 WHR considered ideal for females.
- 3.5-month-old female infants preferred 0.7 WHR over 0.9 WHR, but male infants did not exhibit a preference.
- Findings indicate sensitivity to WHR early in life and replicate prior findings of female infants' superior processing of social stimuli.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Data will be provided to other researchers upon request.
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