New Study Maps Male Preference Subgroups for Female Physical Features

The research, led by Mehmet Mehmetoglu of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, surveyed 395 Norwegian men (average age 23) who were largely single. Participants rated the importance of a partner’s buttocks and breasts on a five-point scale and also reported attitudes toward sexiness, materialism and egalitarianism. Using latent-profile analysis, the study identified four naturally occurring preference clusters rather than imposing predefined categories.

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• Highly Body-Oriented (53 % of the sample) gave buttocks an average rating of 4.4 and breasts 4.1.

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• Moderately Body-Oriented (20 %) rated both features around 3.2.

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• Buttocks-Oriented (18 %) rated buttocks 4.5 but breasts only 2.5.

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• Body-Unoriented (9 %) placed minimal importance on either feature, scoring below 2.

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The analysis found no distinct “breasts-oriented” group; high breast ratings always co-occurred with high buttocks ratings. A one-unit increase in valuing “sexiness” raised the odds of belonging to the Highly Body-Oriented group by 501 % relative to the Body-Unoriented group. Higher materialism increased the likelihood of being Buttocks-Oriented by 86 %, while a one-unit rise in egalitarianism reduced the odds of joining the Highly Body-Oriented group by 63 %.

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Mehmetoglu interprets the findings as evidence that buttocks serve as a more central and evolutionarily stable cue of youth, fertility and health in male attraction, whereas breasts function more as a complementary signal. He notes the sample’s cultural specificity—young men from an egalitarian Norwegian context—and cautions against broad generalization. Planned follow-up work will replicate the study in less egalitarian societies to test whether social constraints reshape these preference “camps.”

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• “I’ve always had the impression, both from academic reading and, even more so, from just chatting with friends, that people assume buttocks and breasts are equally important to men,” — Mehmet Mehmetoglu

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• “I’ll be honest and admit that I was expecting to find a distinct ‘breasts-oriented’ segment, but I didn’t!” — Mehmet Mehmetoglu

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• “The main takeaway is how buttocks seem to be a much more central and stable cue in the male brain than breasts,” — Mehmet Mehmetoglu

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• “It was interesting to find that these physical preferences are actually linked to a person’s values,” — Mehmet Mehmetoglu

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• “I am planning to do a similar study in a less egalitarian society to see if those different social constraints change these preference ‘camps’,” — Mehmet Mehmetoglu

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