Maxims or myths of beauty? A meta-analytic and theoretical review.

Abstract

Common maxims about beauty suggest that attractiveness is not important in life. In contrast, both fitness-related evolutionary theory and socialization theory suggest that attractiveness influences development and interaction. In 11 meta-analyses, the authors evaluate these contradictory claims, demonstrating that (a) raters agree about who is and is not attractive, both within and across cultures; (b) attractive children and adults are judged more positively than unattractive children and adults, even by those who know them; (c) attractive children and adults are treated more positively than unattractive children and adults, even by those who know them; and (d) attractive children and adults exhibit more positive behaviors and traits than unattractive children and adults. Results are used to evaluate social and fitness-related evolutionary theories and the veracity of maxims about beauty.I cannot say often enough how much I consider beauty a powerful and advantageous quality. Socrates called it "A short tyranny," and Plato, '~Fhe privilege of nature." We have no quality that surpasses it in credit. It holds the first place in human relations; it presents itself before the rest, seduces and prepossesses our judgment with great authority and a wondrous impression.--Montaigne, Essays "Beauty is truth, truth beauty," --that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. --Keats, Ode on a Grecian UrnBeauty has interested poets, philosophers, and scientists for centuries. Indeed, the ancient Greeks believed that there is a fundamental relation between beauty and positive qualities: Those who are beautiful are also good (Sappho, Fragment No. 101). "Beauty is good" was empirically tested in a seminal study by Dion, Berscheid, and Walster (1972), who demonstrated that, even in modem times, human beings attribute positive qualities to attractive people and negative qualities to unattractive people. Since this important study, much research has focused on the effects of attractiveness, especially facial attractiveness, on, the attributions, impressions, and stereotypes of strangers. These studies primarily have investigated attributions made by college students about attractive and unattractive strangers based on a photograph of the face and, sometimes, minimal printed "background information" about the hypothetical individuals. This strangerattribution literature has been summarized by earlier meta-analyses (see, e.g., Eagly, Ashmore, Makhijanl, & Longo, 1991;Feingold, 1992b), which have confmned the association between attractiveness and many attributions of positive characteristics. 1Contrary to these findings of a reliable relation between attractiveness and attributions of positive qualifies, however, are several age-old maxims and precepts holding that attractiveness either is not or should not be a significant factor in social interactions or behaviors. Three maxims in particular are heard frequently: (a) Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, (b) never judge a book by its cover, and (c) beauty is only skin-deep...

Women's hormone levels modulate the motivational salience of facial attractiveness and sexual dimorphism

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Submental-Cervical Angle: Perceived Attractiveness and Threshold Values of Desire for Surgery

“…The Likert-type rating scale used is largely accepted in the psychology literature as the most useful rating method [11]. The seven-point Likert scale described above was used by each observer to rate each image in terms of attractiveness.…”

“…Taking 50 % (i.e. majority) of each observer group as a cut-off where the majority suggested surgery as previously applied [11], for patients the threshold value of desire for surgery was 110°, for lay people the threshold value was 115°and similarly 125°f or clinicians. In all cases there was a significant correlation between the proportion suggesting surgery and submental-cervical angle: for patients r = 0.95 (p \ 0.001), for laypeople r = 0.88 (p \ 0.005) and for clinicians r = 0.96 (p \ 0.001).…”

Why is low waist-to-chest ratio attractive in males? The mediating roles of perceived dominance, fitness, and protection ability

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