Globalizing Evolution: Female Choice, Nationality, and Perception of “Sexual Beauty” in China

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-2008

Publication Title

Journal of Cross-Cultural Research

Volume

42

Issue

3

First page number:

248

Last page number:

269

Abstract

An evolutionary perspective on physical attractiveness suggests that individuals find those characteristics associated with reproductive success attractive. Theory and existing data consistent with this view link perceptions of physical attractiveness to traits such as symmetry, status, and reproductive value. Here, we take this evolutionary perspective global to ask how do Chinese men and women rate the sexual beauty of East Asian compared with Caucasian models? We enlisted 74 Chinese men and women from Hohhot, a northern city, and Chengdu, a southern city, to rank photos of both Chinese and Caucasian male and female models obtained from Chinese magazines. We also elicited emic accounts for the ratings as complementary source of qualitative data. Results revealed that Chinese women ranked Caucasian male and female models as more attractive. Chinese men, however, did not differentially rank East Asian and Caucasian women, though they did rank Caucasian men as being more attractive. We suggest that, while an evolutionary novelty, a process of globalization can still be linked to potentially adaptive preferences for physical attractiveness, and call for more research in this vein.

Keywords

Evolution; Globalization; Mate choice; Mate selection; Physical attractiveness

Disciplines

Anthropology | Biological and Physical Anthropology | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social and Cultural Anthropology

Language

English

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