我要吃瓜

Citation

Stefanczyk MM, Sorokowski P, Roberts C & Zelazniewicz A (2025) Nudity Norms and Breast Arousal: A Cross-Generational Study in Papua. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 54, pp. 1317-1323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-025-03122-5

Abstract
Female breasts elicit sexual arousal in men, but there is much speculation about the underlying cause of this phenomenon. Some argue that breast size and shape are cues of a woman’s age, sexual maturity, fecundity, fertility, and/or nutritional status, whereas others espouse a cultural rationale, such that social norms biding women to cover their upper bodies lead men to desire what is hidden. To address this issue, we asked 80 men from the Dani people (Papua, Indonesia) about their sex-related behaviors and attitudes regarding their partners’ breasts. The older participants (N =40; aged 40–70 years, mean 50.2) were raised in times when toplessness was a norm among Dani women, while the younger ones (N = 40; 17–32 years, mean 24.0) were raised when customs had changed such that Dani women covered their breasts in public. We found that the two groups of men did not differ in terms of i) the sexual arousal they experience when seeing naked female breasts, ii) the frequency of touching their partners’ breasts during sexual intercourse, and iii) the significance of a woman’s breasts for her perceived attractiveness among men. Our study provides preliminary evidence that men’s sexualization of female breasts might have cross-cultural, evolutionary grounds.

Keywords
Breasts; Toplessness; non-WEIRD population; Sexuality; Male sexual preferences