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It has been suggested human female breast size may act as signal of fat reserves, which in turn indicates access to resources. Based on this perspective, two studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that men experiencing relative resource insecurity should perceive larger breast size as more physically attractive than men experiencing resource security. In Study 1, men from three sites in Malaysia varying in relative socioeconomic status high to low rated a series of animated figures varying in breast size for physical attractiveness.
Results showed that men from the low socioeconomic context rated larger breasts as more attractive than did men from the medium socioeconomic context, who in turn perceived larger breasts as attractive than men from a high socioeconomic context. Study 2 compared the breast size judgements of 66 hungry versus 58 satiated men within the same environmental context in Britain. Results showed that hungry men rated larger breasts as significantly more attractive than satiated men.
Indeed, eye-tracking studies have indicated that, when judging the attractiveness of a woman, both men and women spend more time looking at the breasts and upper-body than any other bodily region [6] β [7]. Despite such evidence, the significance of prominent female breasts has proved difficult to explain from an evolutionary perspective, particularly as the human female is the only primate that has permanent, full-form breasts when not pregnant [8].
Theories that currently lack reliable evidence include the suggestion that the breast served functional roles such as milk storage for breast-feeding babies [9] , comfort for nursing infants [10] , and heat stress avoidance [11]. On the other hand, it is possible that biomechanical constraints as a result of sexually dimorphic fat deposition placed unique demands on human female morphology, which resulted in the selection of breasts [12].
