Men who are hungry or financially insecure are more likely to find women with larger breasts attractive, a new scientific study has revealed.
The research, published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE, was conducted by psychologists Viren Swami and Martin J. Tovée and examined how economic and physiological conditions influence male perceptions of physical attractiveness.
According to the study, breast size may serve as a subconscious signal of fat reserves and access to resources, with men facing economic pressure showing a stronger preference for larger breasts than those who feel financially secure.
The researchers carried out two separate studies in Malaysia and the United Kingdom.
In the first study, 266 men drawn from low-, middle- and high-income communities in Malaysia were shown rotating computer-generated images of women with varying breast sizes and asked to rate their attractiveness.
The results revealed a clear socioeconomic pattern. Men from low-income rural areas showed a strong preference for larger breasts, those from middle-income towns favoured medium to large sizes, while participants from high-income urban centres preferred smaller to medium breast sizes.
The study noted that “men from relatively low socioeconomic sites rated larger breast sizes as more physically attractive” than those from wealthier backgrounds, adding that preference for large breasts declined as financial security increased.
The second study focused on hunger rather than income. In the UK, 124 male university students were divided into two groups — those who were hungry and those who had recently eaten.
Both groups viewed the same images under identical conditions. The hungry participants consistently rated larger breast sizes as more attractive than their well-fed counterparts.
“Hunger significantly influenced attractiveness ratings,” the researchers said, noting that men who had not eaten preferred larger breasts compared with those who were satiated.
The findings, according to the authors, suggest that male attraction is not fixed but can shift in response to both short-term conditions such as hunger and long-term factors like economic security.
They concluded that environmental and social pressures play a significant role in shaping perceptions of physical attractiveness, reinforcing the idea that attraction is closely linked to resource availability and stability.
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