Do men's perception of what makes a woman more attractive change with the size of their 401K? According to a couple of Econometricians (we promise that we didn't make that word up) -- they do. So, what convincing mountain of data do they base their theory that men like larger and more robust women during times of hardship? The basic indicator of all thing that men find sexually attractive: Playboy Playmates from 1960 through 2000.

By comparing the measurements from 40 years of playmates to the economic data of the times, Terry Pettijohn II and Brian Jungeberg say that when times are good, men admire women based on their capabilities of reproduction. In hard times, men tend to look for women who are suited for production -- i.e. taller, stronger, bulkier, and more muscular. Here's the actual playmate data.

Please don't shoot the messenger here, we think the whole thing is ridiculous. We do give these guys points for taking a really dumb barroom theory and examining it very thoughtfully -- and it's kinda hard to be thoughtful while reading through 40 years of Playboy.

Still, we're going to have to say this falls woefully short of being considered scientific. So there's certainly no reason to start slamming twinkies and doing squats everytime you see the Dow Industrials plunge.
[via Gawker]