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Facial Attractiveness (facial + attractiveness)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Psychology	80%

Selected Abstracts

Origins of a stereotype: categorization of facial attractiveness by 6-month-old infants

DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2004
Jennifer L. Ramsey
Like adults, young infants prefer attractive to unattractive faces (e.g. Langlois, Roggman, Casey, Ritter, Rieser-Danner & Jenkins, 1987; Slater, von der Schulenburg, Brown, Badenoch, Butterworth, Parsons & Samuels, 1998). Older children and adults stereotype based on facial attractiveness (Eagly, Ashmore, Makhijani & Longo, 1991; Langlois, Kalakanis, Rubenstein, Larson, Hallam & Smooth, 2000). How do preferences for attractive faces develop into stereotypes? Several theories of stereotyping posit that categorization of groups is necessary before positive and negative traits can become linked to the groups (e.g. Tajfel, Billig, Bundy & Flament, 1971; Zebrowitz-McArthur, 1982). We investigated whether or not 6-month-old infants can categorize faces as attractive or unattractive. In Experiment 1, we familiarized infants to unattractive female faces; in Experiment 2, we familiarized infants to attractive female faces and tested both groups of infants on novel faces from the familiar or novel attractiveness category. Results showed that 6-month-olds categorized attractive and unattractive female faces into two different groups of faces. Experiments 3 and 4 confirmed that infants could discriminate among the faces used in Experiments 1 and 2, and therefore categorized the faces based on their similarities in attractiveness rather than because they could not differentiate among the faces. These findings suggest that categorization of facial attractiveness may underlie the development of the ,beauty is good' stereotype. [source]

Alcohol consumption increases attractiveness ratings of opposite-sex faces: a possible third route to risky sex

ADDICTION, Issue 8 2003
Barry T. Jones
ABSTRACT Aims, To measure the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on males' and females' attractiveness ratings of unfamiliar male and female faces. Participants Eighty undergraduate volunteers were used in each of three experiments. Design, Participants' ratings on a 1,7 scale was the dependent variable. A three-factor mixed design was used. For experiments 1 and 2: one within-factor, sex-of-face to be rated (male/female); two between-factors, sex-of-rater (male/female) and alcohol status of rater (0 UK units/1,6 UK units). For experiment 3, the two levels of sex-of-face were replaced by two levels of a non-face object. In experiment 1, the faces were rated for attractiveness; in experiment 2, the faces were rated for distinctiveness and in experiment 3, the non-face objects were rated for attractiveness. Setting, Quiet, prepared corners of bars and licensed eating areas on a civic university campus. Method, For each experiment, 118 full-colour photographic images were presented randomly on a laptop computer screen, each remaining until a rating response was made. Findings, There was a significant alcohol consumption enhancement effect only for attractiveness ratings of opposite-sex faces in experiment 1. This indicates that the opposite-sex enhancement effect is not due simply to alcohol consumption causing the use of higher points of ratings scales, in general. Conclusion, Since Agocha & Cooper have shown that the likelihood of intentions to engage in risky sex increases as the facial attractiveness of the potential sexual partner increases, through the opposite-sex enhancement effect we identify a new possible link between risky sex and alcohol consumption. [source]

I think I like you: Spontaneous and deliberate evaluations of potential romantic partners in an online dating context

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2010
Rajees Sritharan
The present research examined processes of impression formation within an online dating context. Across two studies, female participants formed impressions of a potential partner based on an online dating profile containing information about the target's facial attractiveness and self-described ambition. Afterwards, deliberate evaluations of the target were assessed with a self-report measure and spontaneous evaluations were measured with an affective priming task. The results showed that deliberate evaluations varied as a function of both self-described ambition and facial attractiveness. In contrast, spontaneous evaluations varied only as a function of facial attractiveness. Experiment 2 further showed that these effects were independent of the order in which the two types of information had been encoded. The results are discussed in terms of associative and propositional processes, and the conditions under which these processes can lead to conflicting evaluations of the same potential romantic partner. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]