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The Curse of Curves

Sex Differences in the Associations Between Body Shape and Pain Expression

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Abstract

This study examines the associations between objective and subjective measurements and impressions of body shape and cold pressor pain reporting in healthy adults. On the basis of sexual selection theory (SST), we hypothesized that body characteristics that are universally preferred by the opposite sex—specifically, lower waist-to-hip ratios (WHR) in women and higher shoulder-to-hip ratios (SHR) in men—and characteristics (e.g., proportion of body fat in women) that infer attractiveness differently across cultures will correspond to higher experimental pain reporting in women and lower pain reporting in males. A convenience sample of young adults (n = 96, 58 females, 18–24 years; mean age = 19.4) was measured for body mass index (BMI), WHR, SHR, and subjective body impressions (SBI), along with cold pressor pain reporting. The findings showed that BMI was positively associated with WHR and less-positive SBI in both sexes. Consistent with SST, however, only BMI and WHR predicted variability in pain expression in women, whereas only SHR predicted variability in men. Subjective body impressions were positively associated with SHR among males and unrelated to WHR among females, yet only females showed a positive association between SBI and higher pain reporting. The findings suggest that sexually selected physical characteristics (WHR and SHR) and culturally influenced somatic (BMI) and psychological (SBI) indicators of attractiveness correspond with variability in pain reporting, potentially reflecting the general tendency for people to express clusters of sexually selected and culturally influenced traits that may include differential pain perception.

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Acknowledgments

The research was supported by a Research Allocations Committee Grant from the University of New Mexico. We thank Randy Maestas, Michael Neal, Ana Daniela Garcia Estenssoro, Casey Smith, Alex Chavez, and Alex Wolff at the University of New Mexico for assistance with various aspects of this project, as well as David Wilson at the University of North Florida for designing the pain measurement software.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220, Albuquerque, NM, 87131-1161, USA

    Jacob M. Vigil, Chance R. Strenth, Andrea A. Mueller, Jared DiDomenico, Diego Guevara Beltran, Patrick Coulombe & Jane Ellen Smith

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Vigil, J.M., Strenth, C.R., Mueller, A.A. et al. The Curse of Curves. Hum Nat 26, 235–254 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-015-9232-9

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