WHAT IS AVERAGE AND WHAT IS NOT AVERAGE ABOUT ATTRACTIVE FACES?

Abstract— We reported in this journal (Langlois & Roggman, 1990) findings showing that attractive faces are those that represent the mathematical average of faces in a population These findings were intriguing because they provided a parstmonious definition of facial attractiveness and because they supported explanations of attractiveness from the point of view of both evolutionary and cognitive-prototype theory Since our 1990 report, several alternative explanations of our findings have been offered In this article, we show that none of these alternatives explains our results adequately     

The Effect of Early Music Training on Child Cognitive Development

The relationship between participation in a structured music curriculum and cognitive development was studied with 71 4- through 6-year olds. Children were pre- and posttested with six subtests of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, fourth edition (SB) and the Young Child Music Skills Assessment (MSA). Approximately one half of the sample participated in a 30-week, 75-minute weekly, parent-involved music curriculum. Statistical analysis showed significant gains for participants receiving music instruction on the MSA and on the SB Bead Memory subtest. Four-order partial correlations analysis found musical treatment influence on Bead Memory scores when the participants were controlled for sex, ethnicity, parental education, and economic class. Treatment also produced higher scores on other SB measurements for select populations. This study suggests a significant correspondence between early music instruction and spatial–temporal reasoning abilities.     

Behavior, Attitudes, and Cognitions of Anger-Prone Individuals

This research explored facets of anger based on a multidimensional-associationistic conceptualization (Berkowitz, 1994) that includes antecedents, behavior, cognitions, and experiential response dimensions. High and low anger-prone individuals responded to six audiotaped situations validated in previous work to be anger provoking. Participants evaluated their own audiotaped responses, as did peer judges. Participants also completed the Social Problem Solving Inventory (SPSI) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) and they reported on the effect of anger experiences in their lives. Neither self nor peer ratings of the audiotaped responses differentiated the behavior of anger groups. High and low anger-prone individuals, however, differed in the way that they viewed the consequences of their behavior and how anger affected them in general. Furthermore, high anger-prone individuals had elevated levels of pathology on eight of the nine scales of the BSI and scored significantly lower on the SPSI. Results are discussed in terms of assessment of anger proneness, its relationship to psychopathology and implications for future work.     

Perceptions of Overt and Personality-based Integrity Tests

Differences in test-taker perceptions between overt and personality-based integrity tests were examined. Following administration of both types of integrity tests, 255 undergraduate students provided ratings of perceived face validity and perceived predictive validity. Following receipt of actual test scores, 126 test takers participated in a second phase of the study in which they reported perceptions of distributive justice. Test takers perceived overt integrity tests as having greater face validity and predictive validity than personality-based integrity tests. Perceptions of job-relatedness were not strongly related to test performance on either test type. Distributive justice perceptions were related to test performance, but not type of integrity test.     

The Impact of Race,Racial Attitude,and Gender on Reactions to the Criminal Trial of O. J. Simpson1

Opinions about the criminal trial of O. J. Simpson, as well as general racial attitude, were assessed in different samples of African Americans and Whites in three studies: during jury selection (Study 1), after closing arguments (Study 2), and after the jury verdict was reached (Study 3). We assessed the effects of respondent race, gender, and general racial attitude on case opinion factors and guilt judgments at each point in time. Race was strongly related to case opinions and guilt judgments in all three studies. Racial attitude related significantly to guilt judgments only in Study 1 for Blacks and in Study 3 for Whites. Guilt judgments of Whites were more strongly predicted by the case opinion factors than were those of African Americans. General racial attitudes and opinions about the criminal justice system were more positive for Blacks in Studies 2 and 3, while they did not differ across studies for Whites. A hindsight bias was found for Whites but not for African Americans. Race had a more powerful impact than did gender. Across-study comparison suggested that very few respondents changed their views appreciably over the year-long trial.     

Attachment Style,Assertive Communication,and Safer-Sex Behavior1

This research tested the proposition that the effect of attachment security on safer-sex practice may be mediated by communication patterns. One hundred eighty-five undergraduate students completed questionnaire measures of attachment, assertiveness, and attitudes to communication about AIDS. Eight weeks later, they reported on their practice of safer sex in the period since the first testing session. Hierarchical regressions showed that at Step I, anxiety about relationships (a measure of insecure attachment) was associated with less safer-sex practice, for all outcome measures. Attitudes to communication about AIDS added to the prediction of general reports of safer-sex practice: in line with the mediational model, anxiety about relationships became unimportant as a predictor when communication variables were included. Communication variables failed to add to the prediction of safer sex on the most recent encounter, and both anxiety about relationships and attitudes to communication about AIDS predicted condom use. Some gender differences in patterns of prediction were noted. The results are discussed in terms of attachment style and its links with the negotiation of sexual practice and relationship issues.     

Creating Another Identity: Aging Actresses in the Eighteenth Century

In the eighteenth century, it was usual for actors and actresses to build a repertoire of roles, and to keep possession of particular parts once they had created them, sometimes throughout their careers. They were, therefore, as likely to be identified with the characters they played as they were either for themselves or for their ability to create such dramatis personae. Yet, paradoxically, their personal identities, formed not only by character or personality and ability, but also by appearance and reputation, could affect the way in which their performances on stage were received by their audiences and critics. During a century in which identity and status were often worn externally, eighteenth-century actresses were keenly admired for their appearance, especially when young. As still happens today, appearance and ability were often juxtaposed by the critics in their reviews of actresses' performances, which mark the culmination of the creative process of acting. An examination of the working lives of eighteenth-century actresses to discover the ways in which their appearance and ability became integral to both their identity and the processes they used, as well as how their choice of roles could affect their reputation and even their health as they aged, provides not only intriguing information about the relationship between the creative processes of acting and the identity of the actress, but also an historic, thereby determined, cultural society of lived bodies, which can help to inform some of the current attitudes toward aging and identity, particularly in female performers.     

“Subordination” and Nonverbal Sensitivity: A Study and Synthesis of Findings Based on Trait Measures

We conducted a primary study and a meta-analysis on the relation of trait subordination measures to trait measures of sensitivity to nonverbal cues, in order to test the hypothesis that more subordinate individuals have enhanced ability to decode nonverbal cues. In the primary study, subordination measures included socioeconomic background, two dominance scales, a capacity for status scale, a control by powerful others scale, self-ratings of leadership and social status in high school, and for women, measures of sex role values. Sensitivity to nonverbal cues was measured using three psychometric tests, Results showed little overall support for the subordination hypothesis, and some results were significantly opposite to the prediction. The meta-analysis showed that dominance, capacity for status, socioeconomic status, and women's sex role values all had relations to nonverbal sensitivity that were opposite to the predictions of the subordination hypothesis. Future prospects for the subordination hypothesis with respect to nonverbal sensitivity are discussed.