Sexist Men Like Big Boobs? Male Attitudes May Predict Breast Size Preference, Says Study

It seems cliche, but it just might be true. The more sexist a man is, the more likely he is to be into big boobs.

A recent study from the University of Westminster, published in February in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, showed that men's attitudes toward women influence their attitudes about ideal breast size. The researchers interviewed 361 white, heterosexual men, ranging in age from 18 to 68. (Since ethnicity has been previously shown to impact how individuals perceive breast size, the researchers decided to pull participants from just one self-identified racial category.) Each man was shown five different 3-D models of women, each with a different breast size, and then asked to record which "woman" he found most physically attractive.

Afterward, the participants were given surveys which measured each man's level of hostility toward women, his attitudes about relationships between men and women, benevolent sexism and how much he objectified women.

The researchers found that the largest percentage of participants (32.7 percent) rated medium-sized breasts as "most attractive," followed by large (24.4 percent), very large (19.1 percent), small (15.5 percent) and very small (8.3 percent). However, a preference for large and very large breasts was significantly correlated with overt sexism, benevolent sexism, female objectification and hostile attitudes toward women. This connection was strongest when it came to benevolent sexism. In other words, men who tend to idealize "traditional" femininity and perceive women as meek and weak, are also the most likely to prefer big boobs. "It is arguable that benevolently sexist men perceived larger female breasts as attractive because larger breast size on a woman is associated with perceived femininity," wrote the researchers.

The findings don’t mean that all men who find big breasts attractive are sexist. Also, knowing that some guys may associate your big boobs with weakness is NOT a reason to have a breast reduction. But this research is a good reminder that social ideas about what makes a woman sexually desirable don't just impact the way women feel about themselves or how they imagine men perceive them. Those ideas impact the way that men view women -- both how attractive and how powerful men think they are.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.