Attractiveness Perception of Leg-To-Body Ratio (LBR) in Relation to Health and Fecundity Amongst Some Tertiary Institutions in Northwestern Nigeria

Abstract

Human body attractiveness is related to morphological traits such as height, weight, and body shape. Surprisingly, few empirical studies  on the aesthetic appeal of human legs were examined through leg-tobody ratio as the human legs are conspicuous in erotic contexts.  This study was a cross-sectional and cross-cultural study with a sample size of 1470 participants comprising 726 males and 761 females. 610 Hausa, 437 Yoruba, 144 Igbo, and 279 others with an age range of 18-60 years participated in the study. Simple random sampling was  used to collect samples, across various tertiary institutions within the northwestern Nigeria. Participants completed the  questionnaire in different sites of the research area in their working place and within schools. Male and female participants were asked to  choose the most and least attractive figure (silhouette) they perceived for a potential mate value. Mann-Whitney test was used to  investigate differences in perceived attractiveness between gender, whereas, KruskalWallis test was used to check for significant  differences across socioeconomic status (SES), level of education (LoE), and within ethnic groups. The study revealed that a medium leg- to-body ratio was preferred as it seemed to be the most attractive by both males and females, across ethnic groups, levels of education,  and SES. However, there reason for chosen it was because it is the ideal size by male while female participant reason was because it is  more attractive. Moreover, as SES increases the desire for males and females with high LBR decreases.