Introduction The current research extends previous studies about the ideal woman’s body type by examining men’s perception of women’s body type. Women tend to assume that men find thinner women more attractive than women of average body weight (Bergstrom, Neighbors, & Lewis, 2004). The mass media reinforces the idea that thin women are more attractive. Advertisers on television, the Internet, and periodicals market dieting pills and weight loss techniques, while fashion magazines and couture designers feature ultra-thin female models. This predilection towards the thin model of beauty may lead some women to diet to achieve the level of thinness thought to be most attractive to men. Taken to extremes, some women may develop eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. This drive to attain a thin body type may however be founded on misperception. Previous research has shown that what women predict regarding men’s perception of the ideal woman’s body type is not what men actually prefer (Benninghoven, Raykowski, Solzbacher, Kunzendorf, & Jantschek, 2007). Simply stated, not all heterosexual men prefer a thin body shape for women. It is worth examining what men actually perceive to be the ideal woman’s body size and exploring the correlates of their preference. Hypotheses Hypothesis 1 Heterosexual men will have a higher preference for images of women with an average body weight than they will for images of women who are of a lower body weight. Hypothesis 2 Heterosexual men will prefer their significant other to have a heavier body size than the image they select of a woman’s ideal body shape. Hypothesis 3 There will be a negative relationship between the time that heterosexual men report watching TV and their preference for women’s body size. Methods cont. Design This was a cross sectional design using a convenience sample. Predictor Variables: Ethnicity, Big Five personality characteristics, and hours of TV viewing per week. Criterion Variables: Men’s selection of (1) the picture that corresponded to their “ideal woman’s body size”, and (2) the picture that corresponded to their preference for their “significant other’s body size.” Instruments The Photographic Figure Rating Scale (PFRS; Swami et al., 2008) consists of 10 frontal view photographic images of real women with varying body types. These photographs were presented simultaneously to the participants in order to see which one they selected as the ideal female body shape and which one they selected as the ideal for a significant other. All women in the photograph wear the same leotards and leggings. The photographic figures are taken at a fixed distance and the women all are in the same pose; their faces are blurred in order to control for facial bias (Swami et al., 2008). According to Swami et al. (2008), the photographic figures are shown in grey scale in order to control for both skin and hair color biases. Swami et al. (2008) reported that the PFRS has strong construct validity and test-retest reliability, r =.85. The Mini Markers (3M40; Saucier, 1994, 2002) asks the participant to describe him/herself by responding to a list of 40 adjectives using a Likert-type scale of 1 (extremely inaccurate) to 9 (extremely accurate). Each of the Big Five personality factors (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to New Experiences, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) is scored from eight adjectives. Strong psychometric properties (e.g., internal consistency, construct validity, and orthogonality of the factors) of the 3M40 have been established. Procedures After receiving IRB approval, volunteers were recruited through various Internet websites and lists. Participants clicked on the Qualtrics link, and completed the survey in about 10 minutes. Hypothesis Testing Hypothesis 1: More men selected average body sizes (Figures 4, 5, and 6) significantly more often than thin body sizes (Figures 1, 2, and 3) for both their ideal woman (69.9% thin vs. 27.2% average) and preferred significant other (73.8% thin vs. 22.3% average), all  2 tests p <.001. Hypothesis 1 was supported. Hypothesis 2: Using a Wilcoxon test to compare the figures that men chose, results indicated that men significantly preferred a heavier body size for their preferred significant other than their ideal woman, z = -2.23, p <.01 (one-tailed). Although Hypothesis 2 was supported, 88/102 subjects chose the same figure for both questions. Hypothesis 3: There was no significant relationship between hours of television watching and the size of either their ideal woman, Spearman’s Rho (df = 100) =.07, p >.05, or preferred significant other, Rho (df = 100) =.05, p >.05. Hypothesis 3 was not supported. ADDITIONALLY, Men’s age was not related to either their ideal woman’s body size, Rho (df = 100) =.03, p >.05, or the size of their preferred significant other, Rho (df = 100) =.15, p =.07. Men’s body weight (controlled for height) was significantly correlated with their preference for the ideal woman’s body size, Rho (df = 99) =.24, p =.02, but not with their preferred significant other, Rho (df = 99) =.19, p =.06. Men’s Perceptions and Preferences for the Ideal Woman’s Body Type: The Influence of Personality and Media Exposure Literature cited Benninghoven, D., Raykowski, L., Solzbacher, S., Kunzendorf, S., & Jantschek, G. (2007). Body images of patients with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and female control subjects: A comparison with male ideals of female attractiveness. Body Images, 4, Bergstrom R., Neighbors C., & Lewis M. (2004). Do men find “bony” women attractive? Consequences of misperceiving opposite sex perceptions of attractive body image. Body Image, 1, 183–191. Saucier, G.(1994). Mini-markers: A brief version of Goldberg's unipolar Big-Five markers. Journal of Personality Assessment, 63, Saucier, G. (2002). Orthogonal markers for orthogonal factors: The case of the Big Five Journal of Research in Personality, 36, Swami, V., Salem, N., Furnham, A., & Tovée, M. J. (2008). Initial examination of the validity and reliability of the female photographic figure rating scale for body image assessment. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, For further information Please contact for more information on this and related projects. Figure 1. Men’s choice of the ideal woman’s body size based on their ethnicity. Erica Fung, M.A., Terece S. Bell, Ph.D., & Nicholas Noviello, Ph.D. Clinical Psychology PhD Program, Los Angeles Figure 3. The relationship between men’s preference for the ideal woman’s body size and their own weight controlled for height, grouped by ethnicity. Results Methods Participants 108 heterosexual male volunteers who were residents of the United States, ages 18 and over (M age = 36.70; SD = 12.00). This study focused in Asian/Pacific Islander, African American and White men due to the limited number of participants in Hispanic/ Latino and Other ethnic groups. Figure 2. The relationship between men’s preference for the ideal woman’s body size and and their preference for their significant other’s body size, grouped by ethnicity.. Hispanic/ Latino Asian/Pacific Islander African American WhiteOther N (% of sample) M age ( SD ) 2 (1.9%) (7.07) 40 (37.4%) (9.75) 22 (20.6%) (10.35) 41 (38.3%) (13.73) 2 (1.9%) (1.41) Conclusions Personality factors were not significantly associated with men’s preference for the ideal woman’s body size or their preferred size for their significant other. Many women assume that men prefer thinner women over women of average body weight (Bergstrom et al., 2004), but this was not supported in this study: Men significantly preferred average body sizes over thin body sizes by about 3:1 for both the ideal woman and preferred significant other. Heavier men tended to prefer heavier body sizes for their ideal woman. Some differences emerged between ethnic groups (e.g., Asian/Pacific Islander men tended to prefer thinner female body sizes than African American and White men), but the men’s own body shapes and sizes need to be accounted for in subsequent analyses. Conclusions Personality factors were not significantly associated with men’s preference for the ideal woman’s body size or their preferred size for their significant other. Many women assume that men prefer thinner women over women of average body weight (Bergstrom et al., 2004), but this was not supported in this study: Men significantly preferred average body sizes over thin body sizes by about 3:1 for both the ideal woman and preferred significant other. Heavier men tended to prefer heavier body sizes for their ideal woman. Some differences emerged between ethnic groups (e.g., Asian/Pacific Islander men tended to prefer thinner female body sizes than African American and White men), but the men’s own body shapes and sizes need to be accounted for in subsequent analyses. Limitations Motivation and seriousness of participants, salience effect, and participants’ bias could have had an effect on the results of the current study. The present study was conducted through the use of online questionnaire, an list, as well as through social networking websites such as Facebook. It would be difficult to control participant bias, especially when participants did not understand the rationale of the questions, while they were participating in the study. The choice of words used for the questions in the questionnaire may have encouraged the participants to choose the same pictures for ideal woman body size and significant other’s body size. It is possible that the way the questions were asked misled participants to use the same answer for both questions. The actual body size of the men’s significant other was not obtained.