Beauty, Dominance, and the Mating Game: Contrast Effects in Self-Assessment Reflect Gender Differences in Mate Selection

Abstract

An experimental study examined the effects of exposure to physically attractive and dominant same-sex individuals on self-assessments. Consistent with prior findings on mate selection, it was predicted that women’s self-assessments of their mate value would be adversely affected by exposure to highly physically attractive women and would be relatively unaffected by exposure to socially dominant women. Conversely, men’s self-assessments of their mate value were expected to be more affected by the social dominance than by the physical attractiveness of the men to whom they were exposed. Findings for self-assessed judgments of desirability as a marriage partner were in line with hypotheses. Results fit with earlier findings suggesting that such effects may be caused by changes in the perceived population of competitors rather than direct changes in self-perceptions of physical appearance or dominance. Overall, findings are supportive of models assuming domain-specific rather than domain-general cognitive processes.

The Future of an Applied Evolutionary Psychology for Human Partnerships

“…The results of Gutierres et al (1999) corroborate the conclusions of Kenrick et al (1994) regarding the mechanism through which media exposure affects perceptions. Gutierres et al documented that self-assessments of dominance and attractiveness are unaffected by media exposure but that self-assessments of mate desirability are affected by media exposure.…”

“…Media exposure may produce contrast effects for self-assessments, not just partner-assessments and other-assessments (Gutierres et al, 1999). Gutierres et al (1999) hypothesized that a person's assessment of their own mate value will reflect the trait preferences of the opposite sex, rather than their own trait preferences in a mate.…”

Sexually Selective Cognition: Beauty Captures the Mind of the Beholder.

“…Attractive women might be salient for female observers because such women represent potential intrasexual competitors (cf. Gutierres, Kenrick, & Partch, 1999). Hence, women might be motivated to identify such competitors in order to (a) assess their own attractiveness relative to other women, and (b) guard against direct relationship threats posed by those competitors.…”

Evidence for attentional bias in women exhibiting bulimotypic symptoms

“…Conversely, the presence of negative self-evaluative biases associated with disordered eating could make particularly salient attractiveness-related characteristics in other women, as those women are likely to be perceived as potential threats to the self. 15 It is also possible that some combination of these processes is involved, potentially developing into a selfperpetuating cycle of negative self-evaluation, disordered eating, and cognitive vigilance to other attractive women. In the context of bulimia, these processes could serve to escalate symptoms, such that binging may serve to assuage the distress associated with a sense that one is not living up to the competitive standards set by other women, whereas purging may reflect attempts to reach those standards.…”

“…14 There is also evidence that this competition is based, in part, on competition for potential mates. 15 Maner et al 16 provided evidence that this sense of intrasexual competition can manifest itself in attentional vigilance, with women preferentially attending to other attractive females. For example, women in insecure relationships, who, therefore, are in a particular position to view other women as potential threats, are most inclined to attend preferentially to attractive women.…”