stereotypes of attractiveness
'average' faces more attractive than 95 percent of 'real' faces - Judith Langlois & Lori Roggman 1990
common stereotypes generally hold true - Saul Feinman & George Gill 1978
women
facial features are important
childlike features
wide cheekbones & narrow cheekbones also attractive - Michael Cunningham 1986
indicates high levels of oestrogen - A Cellerino (2003)
overall weight an important factor - Stephen Franzoi & Mary Herzog 1987
men who score highly on the Macho Scale much influenced by physical attractiveness - J C Towhey 1979
men
more likely to be judged on stature, muscles & buttocks than face
firm buttocks and large chests - S B Beck, C I Ward-Hull & P M McLear 1976
square jaw, small eyes, thin lips indicate maturity - Cunningham 1986
taller men preferred - B Pawlowski, Robin Dunbar & A Lipowicz 2000
square-jawed 'hunks' fancied at most fertile time of cycle; slightly-feminised faces more at other times - Ian Penton-Voak 1999
more 'feminine' features judged more appealing - David Perrett 1999
universals of female attractiveness? - Cunningham, Alan Roberts, Anita Barbee, Perri Druen & Cheng-Huan Wu 1995
physically attractive people = generally attractive - J C Brigham 1971
more attractive=more sensitive, kind, interesting, strong, poised, sociable, outgoing, caring, exciting, sexually warm and responsive, likely to have successful marriage and be happy - Karen Dion, Ellen Berscheid & Elaine Walster 1972
attractive people are more popular and sought after, assumed to be higher in positive traits (eg: intelligence, kindness, warmth), more likely to be employed (even when attractiveness is not a job prerequisite) and perceived as happier, more sensitive, successful and socially skilled - Solomon 1987
Halo Effect: total impression unduly influenced by one trait
men think... - S R Weir & M Fine-Davis 1989
blondes lower IQs
redheads difficult
redheaded men negative image - Dennis Clayson & Micol Maughan 1984
physical attractiveness related to
positive self-concept - R A Lerner & S M Karabenick 1974
good mental health - G R Adams 1981
assertiveness & self-confidence - Karen Dion & Steven Stein 1978
female likelihood of employment - even if not job prerequisite ('Professional Beauty Qualification' - Naomi Wolf 1991)
self-fulfilling prophecy?
more socially-skilled women were more attractive - W Goldman & P Lewis 1977
men friendlier & took initiative more when believed talking to attractive women - M I Snyder, E D Tanke & Berscheid 1977
essays rated higher in quality when supposedly written by more attractive women - David Landy & Elliot Aronson 1969
killing an attractive victim resulted in a longer sentence than killing an unattractive victim - Landy & Aronson 1969
a more attractive defendant received a harsher sentence than an unattractive one when she used her attractiveness to swindle someone - H Sigall & N Ostrove 1975
attractive women judged as egoistic, vain, materialistic, snobbish and less likely to have a successful marriage - Marshall Dermer & Darrel Thiel 1975
importance of attractiveness
surveys show physical attractiveness not impt for liking - F A C Perrin 1921; Abraham Tesser & Michael Brodie 1971
important for later dates - E W Mathes 1975
declines in importance when marriage partner being chosen - W Stroebe, C A Insko, V D Thompson & B D Layton 1971
physically attractive boys & girls (5-6) more popular with their peers - Karen Dion & Berscheid 1972
women believed attractive children less likely than unattractive children to commit aggressive act - Kenneth Dion 1972
schema reverse effect: men & women influenced in rating female photos more attractive by favourable personality descriptions - A E Gross & C Crofton 1977
greater physical attractiveness
greater displays of physical intimacy - Silverman 1971
symmetry is a handicap - requires good genes - A P Moller 1992, D Concar 1995
Matching Hypothesis
attracted to people of same level of attractiveness
fear of rejection by more attractive - Huston 1973
Expectancy-Value Theory: try to get most attractive partner who might realistically want us - what is 'fitting' (Roger Brown, 1986)
first 'computer dance' did not support - Elaine Walster, V Aronson, D Abrahams & L Rottman 1966
follow-on info did
repeat 'computer dance' did - Elaine Walster & G William Walster 1969
engaged & dating couples judged from photos to be similar levels of physical attractiveness - Bernard Murstein 1972
married couples more similar than dating couples - Murstein & P Christy 1976
can also include trade-off with other characteristics - eg: very beautiful (Marilyn Monroe) & very intelligent (Arthur Miller) or very beautiful (Anna Nicole Smith) & very wealthy (J Howard Marshall)
'personality'?
more important than looks?
warm and competent liked more than others - Zick Rubin 1973
cultural factors
eg: extroversion valued more than introversion - Steve Duck 1999
Hazel Markus, Shinobu Kitayama & Rachel Heiman 1997
American and Canadian students rated 'assertive' and 'strong' with 'physical attractiveness'
Korean students rated 'sensitive' and 'generous' with 'physical attractiveness'
perception of personality trait may change over length of relationship - Diane Felmlee 1995