Dad and Mom Bods? Inferences of Parenting Ability from Bodily Cues

Abstract

Though much research has explored how facial and bodily features connote heritable fitness, particularly in the context of short-term mating, such cues similarly may influence perceptions of potential parenting ability. The current study explored how body fat variation and breast size in female targets and body fat and muscularity variation in male targets influence men’s and women’s perceptions of targets’ positive (e.g., nurturance) and negative (e.g., hostility) parenting capacities. Participants viewed 4 female targets orthogonally manipulated along dimensions of adiposity (high vs. low) and breast size (small vs. large), and 4 male targets orthogonally manipulated along similar adiposity dimensions and muscularity (small vs. large) before indicating targets’ inferred parenting ability. High-fat female targets were perceived to have more positive and less negative parenting abilities relative to low-fat female targets, an effect that was most pronounced among women; breast size did not influence perceptions of female parenting ability. For male targets, high fat and small muscles were perceived as more indicative of positive parenting abilities and less indicative toward negative abilities; the low body fat/high muscle male target was perceived to have especially negative parenting abilities. These results suggest body cues often associated with good genes and short-term mating success also systematically influence perceptions of parenting ability.