With watching two older sisters growing up and now being surrounded by a generation of girls that tend to lack confidence, I have heard numerous complaints about the way they look—from complaining about their shoe size and all the way to not having defined enough eyebrows, I have heard it all. But one of the most common is a woman’s hatred of being a woman. Yes, it is the hatred of having hips. But would women still have this opinion about themselves if they knew that being curvy actually meant that they had more intelligence than another being?
Researches are the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Santa Barbara would like to believe so. Researchers looked at data from a study of more than 16,000 women from 1988 to 1994. These women were categorized by detailed body measurements, their education level, and their scores on multiple cognitive tests given by the researchers. When the results fro the study came out, it was found that women with waists that were about 70 percent of the diameter of their hips scored better on the tests, but only slightly. They also tended to have a higher level of education than less curvy women.
So how does this happen? And are these findings enough to prove that curvier women have the better brains? Scientists think that this is due to the type of fat that is stored in the hips and legs compared to the fat that is stored in the stomach. The fat that inhabits the hips and thighs has higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than that of the stomach. Omega-3 fatty acids are a healthy form of fat that can be found in nuts and fish. The function of this type of fat is to foster brain growth, making this very reason a possible answer to why these women scored better on the tests. But is this really enough? Can we now say that if you are curvier women you will do better in life academically? This answer is not actually. The difference in test scores and academic ability were small. The curvier women were only scoring slightly better. So I guess it is just as ridiculous as it sounds, yet intriguing. Adrian Furnham, professor of psychology at University College London said that, “As you get older, your waist-hip ration gets worse; that does not mean you become less intelligent over time. To suggest that a 40-year-old, because her WHR is not good, is not intelligent is a misinterpretation of the data. One has to be cautious with what these things mean.”
So even though it would be an interesting and intriguing fact that curvier women are more intelligent, it unfortunately cannot be proven. Instead we have to say that the study that took place was all due to chance.
Sources:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=3859175
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7090300.stm
Colleen, I agree. I think the study is not done well enough and I believe the researchers thought too that there would be no way to absolutlely prove this. Some people thought that maybe it could be reverse causation, being intelligent causes women to be curvy. But I do not believe this either. I do not think it is possible because women are born with their body types. I just think reading the study was crazy that if they were able to conclude this. Glad you found it interesting!
Kaitlin I definitely agree. I am interested to see what else scientsits could come up with to explain the foundings. I believe there has to be more than just diet, maybe it could smoething about confidence and its effects on the brain.
I found this blog really interesting! This is one of those topics that I would never think of has having any correlation. There really isn’t enough proof from the study to make a definitive decision, but it is something I’ll definitely like to learn more about. For all we know there could be multiple confounding variables that explain the correlation or it could be because of omega-3 fatty acids. However, like the first commenter said I found that people who do embrace their body tend to have more confidence and in fact seem smart just because of the confidence. These are all things that can be taken into consideration when analyzing this study. Overall, I’m very intrigued and nice work!
Coming from someone who has always complained about the features I possess, even down to the eyebrows, I was extremely intrigued by this post! Unfortunately, there is not enough proof to go along with the studies that were conducted but who knows what could happen with the advancements in science that are in the future. I find that women who embrace their own unique quirks, whether that be their curvy hips or a crooked tooth, have the tendency to be more confident in situations. Confidence can change a lot about a situation. According to Psychology Today; women who feel pressures to be successful and lack confidence are more likely to give up on a task that is foreign to them. I’m curious to see how this topic could one day be advanced in the future. Thanks for sharing!