Article: The influence of resource availability on preferences for human body weight and non-human objects.

It has been proposed that there may be a general psychological mechanism which interacts with resource availability to influence preferences for human body weight, which may also extend to non-human objects. To test this hypothesis, we first replicated previous studies of preferences for human body weight using a new set of line drawings. The results of this study showed that hunger, as a proxy for resource availability, elicited a preference for a slightly heavier body weight. We then designed three studies that manipulated the size of different objects (an anvil, an empty milk bottle, and differently-filled bottles) and asked participants to rate these for aesthetic ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!