What Is Intelligent, As Well As Attractive, Is Good

Abstract

One reason that physical attractiveness affects person perception judgments is that it is easily available information. It was hypothesized that when another characteristic, such as intelligence is made apparent, that it will evoke a stereotype similar to that evoked by attractiveness. A videotaped stimulus person, whose level of intelligence and attractiveness were manipulated, was rated by 68 subjects. The findings suggest that impressions are formed on the basis of all available information, rather than being primarily influenced by physical appearance, as previous studies have implied.

Accurate Intelligence Assessments in Social Interactions: Mediators and Gender Effects

“…It is an intriguing question why people behave differently in a social situation as a function of their measured intelligence. We do know that intelligence is considered a positive social trait (Murphy et al, 2001; Solomon & Saxe, 1977), which might explain why individuals would want to appear intelligent. Although lower‐intelligence individuals may be equally motivated to appear intelligent, they may display lower rates of eye‐gaze, responsiveness, or looking while speaking because they do not know which cues are stereotypically associated with intelligence, or they know the cues but lack the skills to display them.…”

“…Similarly, it appears that many cues people believe are associated with intelligence differ from cues that are actually related to measured intelligence. Related research suggests that higher intelligence is believed to be related to other positive expressive behaviors and appearance (Solomon & Saxe, 1977), resulting in an ''intelligence halo'' effect (Murphy et al, 2001). If so, then judges may be using other positive expressive behaviors they believe are related to measured intelligence, when, in fact, these are invalid cues in the assessment of intelligence.…”

Appearing Smart: The Impression Management of Intelligence, Person Perception Accuracy, and Behavior in Social Interaction

“…Highly intelligent individuals also have been described as possessing maturity, common sense, and open-mindedness (Berg & Sternberg, 1992). High intelligence was associated with more desired personality traits, a greater likelihood of future social happiness (Solomon & Saxe, 1977), and likeableness and meaningfulness (Anderson, 1968). Intelligence has been related to kindness, goodness, and normality (Fuhrman, Bodenhausen, & Lichtenstein, 1989).…”

The attraction paradigm in dyadic exchange

“…Therefore, both cognitive and affective elements of one's attraction toward another person are represented within the potential variables that contribute to interpersonal attraction (Byme & Clore, 1974). Research shows that the following variables depicted in the model are linked to attraction: physical attractiveness (Bar-Tal & Saxe, 1976;Byme, London & Reeves, 1968;Dion, Berscheid & Walster, 1972;Miller, 1970;Reingen, Gresham, & Keman, 1980;Ronkainen & Reingen, 1979), similarity (Brock, 1965;Byme, London & Reeves, 1968;Clore & Baldridge, 1968;Evans, 1963;Gadel, 1964;Woodside & Davenport, 1974), communication style (LaVoie & Adams, 1978), competence (Aronson, 1969;Landy & Sigall, 1974;Palmer, 1969;Solomon & Saxe, 1977), proximity or exposure frequency (Newcomb, 1956;Zajonc, 1968), reciprocity (Clore & Baldridge, 1970), and prestige (Bonney, 1952;Loomis & Proctor, 1950;Lundberg, 1937).…”