Hungry, Financially Insecure Men Prefer Larger Breasts, Study Finds

A peer-reviewed study has found that men who experience financial insecurity or hunger are more likely to rate larger female breasts as more attractive.

The research, published in PLOS ONE, was conducted by psychologists Viren Swami and Martin J. Tovée. It examined whether breast size functions as a visual cue for fat reserves and access to resources, and whether men facing economic or physiological stress show different attraction patterns from those who are secure.

The researchers carried out two separate studies in Malaysia and the United Kingdom.

In the first study, 266 men from three regions in Malaysia took part. The locations were selected to represent low-, middle-, and high-income environments. Participants viewed rotating computer-generated images of women with varying breast sizes and rated their attractiveness.

Preferences differed consistently by socioeconomic background. Men from low-income rural areas showed the strongest preference for larger breasts. Those from middle-income towns tended to prefer medium to large sizes. Men from high-income urban areas rated smaller to medium breast sizes as most attractive.

As the authors reported, men from lower socioeconomic settings rated larger breast sizes as more attractive than those from moderate-income areas, who in turn preferred larger sizes more than participants from high-income sites. Overall, lower financial security was associated with a stronger preference for larger breasts.

The second study focused on short-term hunger rather than income. In the United Kingdom, 124 male university students were divided into two groups: 66 who were hungry and 58 who had recently eaten. Both groups evaluated the same set of images under identical conditions.

Hungry participants consistently rated larger breast sizes as more attractive than those who were not hungry. The researchers noted a statistically significant difference between the two groups.

According to the study, these findings indicate that men’s perceptions of physical attractiveness are not fixed. Instead, they shift in response to both immediate conditions, such as hunger, and longer-term factors like economic security.

The authors concluded that men experiencing financial pressure or hunger may place greater value on physical traits perceived to signal access to resources or stability, highlighting the role of social and environmental factors in shaping attraction.