In many mammalian species, females prefer the strongest males and the research from Griffith University reveals that it is the same for humans as well.
Dr Aaron Sell, the study author and a senior lecturer at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia, says that the upper body strength makes a man attractive which includes having wider shoulders, being physically fit and having greater handgrip strength.
"We weren't surprised that women found physically strong men attractive ... what did surprise us was just how powerful the effect was," said Dr Aaron Sell.
He added: "Our data couldn't find even a single woman that preferred weaker or feminine male bodies."
In the study, women were shown pictures of men's bodies and asked how attractive they were, to find out how important physical strength is to men's bodily attractiveness.
The results showed that women predicted the attractiveness of a man's body from three things: how physically strong he looks, how tall he is, and how lean he is.
The most shocking thing was none among the 150 women in the study, preferred weak men. Furthermore, the study found that looking strong was considered much more important for man's attractiveness than being tall or lean.
Dr Sell mentioned: "Among our ancestors, one variable that predicted both a man's genetic quality and his ability to invest was the man's formidability."
He added: "Therefore, modern women should still have mate choice mechanisms that respond to cues of a man's fighting ability. One crucial component of a man's ability to fight was his upper body strength."
The study was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
