PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS

"Beauty is only skin deep"

"You can't judge a book by its cover"

Folk-sayings

"Personal beauty is a greater recommendation

than any letter of introduction"

Aristotle

The Physical Attractiveness Stereotype

Definition:

The belief that physically attractive persons posses socially desirable personality traits and lead happier lives than less attractive persons.

Dion, Berscheid, & Hatfield (1972):

Ps rated on personality traits and behavioural dimensions pictures of men and women who were (on the basis of pretests) good-looking, average, or homely.

In comparison to less attractive people, physically attractive individuals were considered more:

Confident Kind Warm

Sexually responsive Outgoing Modest

Strong Sensitive Exciting

Assertive Poised Nurturant

Candid Sociable

Also, in comparison to less attractive people, the future of physically attractive individuals is projected to consist of:

• Happier marriages

• More social and professional success

• More prestige

• More life fulfilment

Does the Physical Attractiveness Stereotype generalize to infants & children?

Attractive newborn infants

likable

sociable

competent

easy to care for

Does the Physical Attractiveness Stereotype influence parents' expectations?

Dion, 1972:

Female University students (in Education) "learned" that a student had been caught throwing stones at a cat. Attached to report was photo of either an attractive or unattractive child.

Attractive Child:

"She appears to be a perfectly charming little girl, well-mannered, basically unselfish. It seems that she can adapt well among children her age ... She plays well with everyone, but like anyone else, a bad day can occur. Her cruelty ... need not be taken too seriously."

Unattractive Child:

"... think the child would be quite bratty and would be a problem to teachers ... she would probably try to pick a fight with other children her own age ... she would be brat at home ... all in all, she would be a real problem."

Does the Physical Attractiveness Stereotype affect behaviour?

• Men with above-average looks earn 15% more in starting salaries

• Once hired, physically attractive women earn 30% more

Is the Physical Attractiveness Stereotype Accurate?

Do the beautiful have more desirable personalities?

Feingold (1992)

No difference on:

• •intelligence

• •dominance

• •self-esteem

• •mental health

BUT, physically attractive persons are:

• •more comfortable in social settings

• •less socially anxious

• •more socially skilled

• •less lonesome

Is There a Universal Beauty Standard?

Anthropologist Ford & Beach (1951) examined 190 tribal societies:

NO universal standards of beauty

Changes of the cultural ideal as a function

of historical time

• •Greeks: Male body

• •Romans: Thin was in

• •Middle-ages: Being full-bodied

• •Victorian times: Delicate and frail (women)

• •Industrial revolution: Heavy-set women

• •20^th century: Many changes

Evolutionary Argument:

There ARE universal standards of facial attractiveness

For Females:

Immature facial features are associated with judgments of physical attractiveness (large eyes, a small nose, large pupils)

For Males:

Mature facial features are associated with judgments of physical attractiveness (square jaw, thick eyebrows, small eyes, thin lips)

WHY?

SIMILARITY

Do Birds of a Feather Flock Together?

Principle: People are attracted to similar others.

• Demographic Similarity

Most best friends are similar in sex, race, age, and year in school (Kandel, 1978)

• Attitudinal Similarity

Study by Byrne (1971):

• •Ps completed attitude questionnaires

• •Ps were introduced to another person by reading his or her responses to a similar questionnaire

• •Byrne had filled out the questionnaire so that the answers were either similar or dissimilar to the Ps' own attitudes.

• •DM: Attraction (liking) for the other person

Why Are Similar Others Attractive?

• Self-Validation through Social Comparison

• •Best friends are more similar to each other on certain genetically-determined characteristics

• •Similar others mimic familiarity (similarity = familiarity)

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COMPLEMENTARITY

Do Opposites Attract?

• Sociologists: Need complementarity theory

• Mate selection

Bus's (1989) study in 37 cultures:

• •Women prefer slightly older men

• •Men prefer younger women

Meta-analysis of 40 attractiveness studies

by Sprecher, Sullivan, & Hatfield (1994)

RECIPROCITY

I'll like you if you like me

• We like people we like us

• Is it reality or perception that matters?

Study by Curtis & Miller (1986)

Procedure:

• •Ps spent 5 min "getting to know a partner"

• •Ps were told that the partner either liked or disliked them

• •Partners were given no information about Ps

Results:

Ps who believed that the partners liked them

• •disclosed more
• •had a more pleasant tone of voice and attitude
• •were more agreeable
• •were liked better