Sex typing and androgyny in dyadic interaction: Individual differences in responsiveness to physical attractiveness.

In an expansion of the "behavioral confirmation" paradigm developed by M. Snyder et al (see record 1979-26014-001), 12 sex-typed and 12 androgynous (Bem Sex-Role Inventory) undergraduates of each sex engaged in getting-acquainted telephone conversations with allegedly attractive and unattractive members of their own and the opposite sex. Although females were more socially responsive than males, the sexes neither differed in their responsiveness to physical attractiveness nor in their responsiveness to cross-sex and same-sex interaction. As hypothesized, sex-typed individuals were rated by blind judges as being significantly more responsive toward allegedly attractive than unattractive partners. In contrast, androgynous men did not differentiate on the basis of physical attractiveness, and androgynous women actually led allegedly unattractive targets to be rated as more socially attractive than allegedly attractive targets, thereby disconfirming the physical attractiveness stereotype. Because cultural definitions of physical attractiveness are different for men and women, results are discussed in the context of recent evidence that sex-typed individuals have a particular readiness to encode and organize information in terms of gender. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of physical attractiveness in peer attribution of psychological disturbance.

Examined the physical attractiveness stereotype as it pertains to the attribution of psychological disturbance among peers. 144 male and female college students heard interview tapes constructed to reflect low and high levels of maladjustment. The female interviewees remained either physically anonymous or were "identified" photographically as attractive or unattractive. Consistent with the stereotype, attractive interviewees were judged as less disturbed with better prognosis than unattractive interviewees. As predicted, greater disturbance with poorer prognosis was attributed to well-adjusted interviewees if they were unattractive than if they were physically anonymous, and identification of the maladjusted interviewee as attractive produced more favorable attributions. Remedial suggestions also differed as a function of the interviewee's maladjustment level and physical attractiveness, and these attractiveness effects persisted when perceived disturbance and prognosis were statistically controlled. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Limitations in generalizability of the physical attractiveness stereotype: The self-esteem exception.

Previous research has reported the existence of a physical attractiveness stereotype which results in several generalized assumptions about physically attractive individuals. Included in these assumptions is that physically attractive individuals are more capable on a number of dimensions and possess more socially desirable personality traits than less attractive individuals. It was predicted that self-esteem would interfere with the attractiveness stereotype in that low self-esteem (LSE) Ss would (a) denigrate an attractive other more than high self-esteem (HSE) Ss, (b) denigrate an attractive person more than an unattractive person, and (c) perceive greater situational similarity with an unattractive than attractive other, with HSE Ss perceiving the reverse. 80 female Ss designated either high or low in self-esteem, based on their scores on the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, evaluated either an attractive or unattractive stimulus person who had socially transgressed. Results indicate that, as predicted, LSE Ss tended to denigrate a transgressing attractive other more than HSE Ss. Although insignificant, the 2nd hypothesis was in the predicted direction in that LSE Ss judged a social transgression to be reflective of personality deficits more for the attractive than unattractive stimulus person. Situational similarity results were in accordance with predictions. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of physical attractiveness on therapists' initial judgments of a person's self-concept.

Videotapes and audiotapes were made of interviews with attractive and unattractive males and females. Ratings of attractiveness were derived from peer judgments of photographs of 83 undergraduates; the 2 most attractive males, 2 least attractive males and a similar number of females were selected as stimulus persons. 13 male and 3 female graduate students in clinical psychology rated the person they had heard (seen) as to self-concept. As hypothesized, physically attractive persons of both sexes were rated as having better self-concepts than unattractive persons. Further, the self-concept ratings of attractive females increased significantly from the audiotape to the videotape conditions, whereas the ratings of all the other stimulus persons remained the same. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When counselors are heard but not seen: Initial impact of physical attractiveness.

Out of a total of 72 undergraduates, 24 males and 24 females viewed the videotaped professional self-presentation of a presumed counselor who was either physically attractive or unattractive. Ss then indicated their impressions of the counselor on 12 traits and their expectancies of the counselor's helpfulness for 15 personal problems. Relative to the physically unattractive counselor, the attractive counselor generally was perceived more favorably by both sexes, especially with regard to his intelligence, friendliness, assertiveness, trustworthiness, competence, warmth, and likeability. The attractive counselor also elicited more favorable counseling outcome expectancies for 8 of the specific personal problems. 2 control groups who listened to the tapes but were unaware of the counselor's appearance did not differ from each other in their ratings of the counselors. Results are discussed in the context of previous and further research on the physical attractiveness variable and in the context of their implications for counseling. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stereotypic personality inferences following objective versus subjective judgments of beauty.

In 2 experiments, 120 male college students were led to believe either that their judgments of female targets' attractiveness were caused by the women's physical characteristics (objective judgments) or that these judgments were the result of their own personal preferences (subjected judgments). It was hypothesized that if the attractiveness stereotype rests on perceiver's implicit assumption that beauty constitutes a reliable and unbiased criterion from which to infer other characteristics (personality traits), then stereotyping would be less extreme when attractiveness was seen as subjective. Although manipulation checks showed that objectivity–subjectivity was effectively manipulated, Ss in all conditions made personality inferences that were consistent with the attractiveness stereotype (i.e., significantly more favorable for attractive than unattractive targets). Results suggest that utilization of the attractiveness stereotype to generate personality predictions is covert and not amenable to influence by perceivers' conscious attributions about the cause of their attractiveness judgments. (French abstract) (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attractive versus unattractive clients: Mediating influences on counselor's perceptions.

Investigated the effects of clients' (C's) age, physical attractiveness, and in-session behavior on Ss' attraction to the Cs. Female undergraduates were assigned to 1 of 8 experimental conditions in which the C was depicted as (a) an adult or a child, (b) physically attractive or unattractive, and (c) verbal ("good" in-session behavior) or nonverbal ("bad" insession behavior). Results indicate that "counselor" Ss were significantly more attracted to child than to adult Cs and to those Cs demonstrating good in-session behaviors as opposed to those performing poorly. Physically attractive Cs were not rated significantly more interpersonally attractive than physically unattractive ones. An interaction between age and in-session behavior suggested that bad in-session behavior significantly decreased the attractiveness of adult Cs but not that of children. Thus, although counselors tend to favor young, attractive, verbal, intelligent and successful (YAVIS) Cs, certain YAVIS characteristics may have a more potent effect on C attractiveness than others. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of children's physical attractiveness on teachers' evaluations.

After viewing the photograph of a physically attractive or unattractive child and a vignette depicting a misbehavior possibly committed by the child, 144 female elementary school teachers evaluated the pupil for blame, personality, and punishment before and after reading a report card characterizing the child as a good, satisfactory, or poor student. Though attractive children generally received more desirable personality ratings than unattractive children, a misbehavior was deemed less undesirable if attributed to unattractive rather than attractive children. Furthermore, unattractive girls were blamed less frequently and received more lenient recommendations for punishment than did unattractive boys. Implications for the physical attractiveness stereotyping hypothesis are discussed as well as explanations for the differential evaluations based on the child's sex. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Good-looking people are not what we think.

Meta-analysis was used to examine findings in 2 related areas: experimental research on the physical attractiveness stereotype and correlational studies of characteristics associated with physical attractiveness. The experimental literature found that physically attractive people were perceived as more sociable, dominant, sexually warm, mentally healthy, intelligent, and socially skilled than physically unattractive people. Yet, the correlational literature indicated generally trivial relationships between physical attractiveness and measures of personality and mental ability, although good-looking people were less lonely, less socially anxious, more popular, more socially skilled, and more sexually experienced than unattractive people. Self-ratings of physical attractiveness were positively correlated with a wider range of attributes than was actual physical attractiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children's physical attractiveness and sex as determinants of adult punitiveness.

Investigated a child's physical attractiveness and sex as potential elicitors of differential adult punitiveness. Ss in Exps I and II were 52 white females and 44 white males, respectively. Ss in both groups viewed a videotaped interaction between the E and a child who was made to appear either physically attractive or unattractive. Subsequently, Ss monitored what was presumably the child's performance on a picture-matching task and administered penalties to the child for incorrect responses. The specific penalty involved taking 1-5 pennies away from the child for each error. Results show that women behaved more leniently towards an attractive boy than towards either an attractive girl or an unattractive boy; these results were interpreted in the context of a cross-sex leniency effect mediated by a child's physical attractiveness. Men were not influenced in administering penalties by either a child's attractiveness or sex. It is suggested that the data reflect differences in men's and women's orientations toward children's task behavior. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physical attractiveness and attributions for disability.

80 undergraduates viewed stimulus slides of an unattractive or attractive female or an unattractive or attractive male who had allegedly become paraplegic as a result of an automobile accident. Ss then completed a questionnaire assessing the potential causes of the accident, prognosis for the victim's disability, and the victim's level of responsibility for the accident. Results demonstrate that the unattractive victims were perceived as having more permanent disabilities and needing longer rehabilitation periods than the attractive victims. Ss made different attributions of the injury and assigned more personal responsibility to the physically attractive victims. Findings are discussed within the context of the "just world" hypothesis proposed by M. Lerner et al (1976). (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Good looks may help: Effects of helper's physical attractiveness and sex of helper on males' and females' help-seeking behavior.

96 19–21 yr old Ss were asked to solve a detective story and were under the impression that correct solutions could be obtained only after a specified number of preliminary questions were answered correctly. Some of these questions were unanswerable, and Ss could ask another S for help. In line with past research (E. Bercheid and E. Walster, 1974; A. Nadler, see PA, Vol 66:5817; H. Sigall and E. Aronson, PA, Vol 43:8310; S. Stokes and L. Bickman, PA, Vol 54:3045), data indicate that for same-sex others, Ss tended to seek less help from physically attractive than unattractive helpers. In cases of cross-sex helping (a) males sought less help from a physically attractive female than an unattractive female and (b) females sought more help from a physically attractive than an unattractive male. Findings are discussed in terms of a self-presentation approach to interpersonal help-seeking behavior. A model of help-seeking and self-presentation is presented. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bias for the (un)attractive self: On the role of attention in causing body (dis)satisfaction.

Objective: Body dissatisfaction plays a key role in the maintenance of eating disorders, and selective attention might be crucial for the origin of body dissatisfaction. A. Jansen, C. Nederkoorn, and S. Mulkens (2005) showed that eating disorder patients attend relatively more to their own unattractive body parts, whereas healthy controls attend relatively more to their own attractive body parts. In 2 studies, we investigated whether this bias in selective attention is causal to body dissatisfaction and whether an experimentally induced bias for attractive body parts might lead to increased body satisfaction in women who are highly dissatisfied with their bodies. Design: We used a between-subjects design in which participants were trained to attend to either their self-defined unattractive body parts or their self-defined attractive body parts by use of an eye tracker. Main Outcome Measures: State body and weight satisfaction. Results: Inducing a temporary attentional bias for self-defined unattractive body parts led to a significant decrease in body satisfaction and teaching body-dissatisfied women to attend to their own attractive body parts led to a significant increase in body satisfaction. Conclusion: Selective attention for unattractive body parts can play a role in the development of body dissatisfaction, and changing the way one looks may be a new way for improving body dissatisfaction in women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infant preferences for attractive faces: Rudiments of a stereotype?

Two studies, one with 2- to 3-month-olds and one with 6- to 8-month-olds, were conducted to examine infant preferences for attractive faces. A standard visual preference technique was used in which infants were shown pairs of color slides of the faces of adult women previously rated by other adults for attractiveness. The results showed that both the older and younger infants looked longer at attractive faces when the faces were presented in contrasting pairs of attractiveness (attractive/unattractive). When the faces were presented in pairs of similar levels of attractiveness (attractive/attractive vs. unattractive/unattractive) the older but not the younger infants looked longer at attractive faces. The results challenge the commonly held assumption that standards of attractiveness are learned through gradual exposure to the current cultural standard of beauty and are merely "in the eye of the beholder." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Belief in a just world and physical attractiveness stereotyping.

Just-world theory provides a possible explanation of physical attractiveness stereotyping, in that believing in a just world should lead to a positive bias toward "winners," such as the physically attractive. Several hypotheses derived from this premise were tested by having adults complete the Just World Scale and rate the personality traits and expected life outcomes of an attractive or unattractive stimulus person. Predictions for the personality trait ratings were borne out for male but not for female stimulus persons: (a) Believers in a just world perceived the personalities of attractive, male stimulus persons as more socially desirable than nonbelievers and also attributed more socially desirable personalities to male stimulus persons who were attractive rather than unattractive; and (b) no effects were found for female stimulus persons. Predictions for the life-outcome ratings and differences in correlations between personality and life-outcome ratings as a function of belief in a just world were clearly supported. Implications for just-world theory, status-characteristics theory, and physical attractiveness stereotyping are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Help-seeking and attractiveness in cross-sex dyads.

Attempted to extend A. Nadler's (see record 1981-25817-001) finding that female Ss asked for significantly less help from a fictitiously paired attractive (vs unattractive) female co-worker by investigating whether the same relationship between physical attractiveness and unwillingness to ask for help would occur in cross-sex dyads. 24 male and 24 female undergraduates trying to solve a very difficult task could request help from a fictitiously paired attractive vs unattractive co-worker of the opposite sex. Findings indicate that, as predicted, both males and females asked for significantly less help from their cross-sex attractive partner than from the unattractive one. Results suggest that one's same-sex interactions, as in the Nadler study, or opposite-sex interactions may be modified as a function of one's concerns with impression management. (French abstract) (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)