Why study physical attractiveness?

Physical attractiveness influences many different aspects of human social interaction. For example, people preferentially mate with, date, associate with, employ, and even vote for physically attractive individuals. People also tend to automatically ascribe positive personality characteristics to physically attractive individuals. This is often referred to as the ‘attractiveness halo effect’ or ‘beauty is good stereotype’. Although both males and females claim in self-report (i.e. when answering questionnaires) that physical attractiveness is not of primary importance when choosing a partner, the single best predictor of satisfaction with a ‘blind date’ is facial attractiveness for both men and women. Furthermore, the physical attractiveness of misbehaving children and individuals appearing in court on charges such as burglary and fraud has been found to influence others' perceptions of the seriousness of their misdemeanours. Intriguingly, attractiveness counts against fraudsters ...  more