Unattractive infant faces elicit negative affect from adults

We examined the relationship between infant attractiveness and adult affect by investigating whether differing levels of infant facial attractiveness elicit facial muscle movement correlated with positive and negative affect from adults (N = 87) using electromyography. Unattractive infant faces evoked significantly more corrugator supercilii and levator labii superioris movement (physiological correlates of negative affect) than attractive infant faces. These results suggest that unattractive infants may be at risk for negative affective responses from adults, though the relationship between those responses and caregiving behavior remains elusive.     

Conceptualizing and measuring perceptions of sexual attractiveness: Are there differences across gender and sexual orientation?

There is no consistent conceptualization of sexual attractiveness in the literature. The present paper reviews previous literature on sexual attractiveness, examining the different terms used to refer to sexual attractiveness, as well as the measures designed to evaluate perceptions of sexual attractiveness. A new measure of self-perceptions of sexual attractiveness is proposed and psychometrically tested based on this material. The review of the literature demonstrates that there are multiple, often ambiguous, terms used in relation to sexual attractiveness, with few definitions provided. Additionally, there is no standardized measure of perceptions of sexual attractiveness. Single item measures are commonly used to assess an individual’s perceptions of their own or of another’s sexual attractiveness, and few studies provide a psychometric evaluation of the measures used. A clearer picture of sexual attractiveness is formed in this paper and, with this, a new scale measuring self-perceptions of sexual attractiveness is developed. The new scale is a valid and reliable measure of self-perceived sexual attractiveness that may be used among men and women who identify as heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual. Furthermore, the findings suggest that sexual attractiveness may be conceptualized similarly across gender and sexual orientation.     

Female copulatory orgasm and male partner’s attractiveness to his partner and other women

Women’s copulatory orgasm may function to retain sperm from men with “good genes”, one indicator of which is attractiveness, and one benefit of which is pathogen resistance. Women who perceive their partner to be more (vs. less) attractive are more likely to report orgasm at last copulation. Another benefit of male attractiveness to women is that he may sire offspring that will gain the heritable share of this advantage (i.e., “sexy sons”). Research has not addressed the “Sexy Sons” Hypothesis (e.g., as indicated by women’s perception of other women’s assessments of their partner’s attractiveness) in regards to female copulatory orgasm. We secured self-reports from 439 women in a committed, heterosexual relationship and investigated the relationships between women’s orgasm at last copulation and (1) women’s assessments of their partner’s attractiveness and (2) women’s perceptions of other women’s assessments of their partner’s attractiveness. The results indicate that women mated to more (vs. less) attractive men are more likely to report orgasm at last copulation, and this relationship is mediated by women’s perceptions of other women’s assessments of their partner’s attractiveness. We discuss the mediated relationship, note limitations of the research, and suggest future research directions.     

‘If you look the part you’ll get the job’: should career professionals help clients to enhance their career image?

This article presents a critical exploration of the role of career professionals in supporting people to reflect on and enhance their appearance, attractiveness and self-presentation (career image). The article is conceptual and based on a review of the broader literature on career success, appearance and attractiveness. It explores the evidence for a relationship between attractiveness and career, and the authors propose a conceptual framework in which career image is comprised of three elements (interpersonal skills, aesthetic presentation and beauty). The paper examines a possible role for career professionals in relation to this and then critically examines this role and concludes with the proposition of a research agenda in this area.     

Ratings of physical attractiveness within young,romantically engaged couples in Malaysia

This study examined the matching hypothesis, the positive illusions effect and the love is blind bias in young, romantically engaged couples in Malaysia. Each member of 58 young, romantically engaged heterosexual couples completed the Body Esteem Scale and items assessing physical attractiveness in relation to themselves and their partner. In support of the matching hypothesis, partners' perceptions of their own and their partner's facial and bodily attractiveness were significantly correlated. The positive illusions effect and the love is blind bias were also evident, with participants' ratings of partners being greater than both their own self‐ratings and their partner's self‐ratings of physical attractiveness. Although our findings suggest that these phenomena related to perceptions of physical attractiveness are evident across cultures, further studies are required.     

Observer age and the social transmission of attractiveness in humans: Younger women are more influenced by the choices of popular others than older women

Being paired with an attractive partner increases perceptual judgements of attractiveness in humans. We tested experimentally for prestige bias, whereby individuals follow the choices of prestigious others. Women rated the attractiveness of photographs of target males which were paired with either popular or less popular model female partners. We found that pairing a photo of a man with a woman presented as his partner positively influenced the attractiveness of the man when the woman was presented as more popular (Experiment 1). Further, this effect was stronger in younger participants compared to older participants (Experiment 1). Reversing the target and model such that women were asked to rate women paired with popular and less popular men revealed no effect of model popularity and this effect was unrelated to participant age (Experiment 2). An additional experiment confirmed that participant age and not stimulus age primarily influenced the tendency to follow others' preferences in Experiment 1 (Experiment 3). We also confirmed that our manipulations of popularity lead to variation in rated prestige (Experiment 4). These results suggest a sophisticated model‐based bias in social learning whereby individuals are most influenced by the choices of those who have high popularity/prestige. Furthermore, older individuals moderate their use of such social information and so this form of social learning appears strongest in younger women.     

Your Face Says It All: Closeness and Perception of Emotional Expressions Among Females

The purpose of the present investigation was to assess whether interpersonal closeness facilitates earlier emotion detection as the emotional expression unfolds. Female undergraduate participants were either paired with a close friend or an acquaintance (n = 92 pairs). Participants viewed morphed movies of their partner and a stranger gradually shifting from a neutral to either a sad, angry, or happy expression. As predicted, findings indicate a closeness advantage. Close friends detected the onset of their partners’ angry and sad expressions earlier than acquaintances. Additionally, close friends were more accurate than acquaintances in identifying angry and sad expressions at the onset, particularly in non-vignette conditions when these expressions were void of context. These findings suggest that closeness does indeed facilitate emotional perception, particularly in ambiguous situations for negative emotions.     

Gender Differences in the Social Cost of Affective Deviance

The current study tested whether men and women receive different degrees of social punishment for violating norms of emotional expression. Participants watched videos of male and female targets (whose reactions were pre-tested to be equivalent in expressivity and valence) viewing either a positive or negative slideshow, with their emotional reaction to the slideshow manipulated to be affectively congruent, affectively incongruent, or flat. Participants then rated the target on a number of social evaluation measures. Displaying an incongruent emotional expression, relative to a congruent one, harmed judgments of women more than men. Women are expected to be more emotionally expressive than men, making an incongruent expression more deviant for women. These results highlight the importance of social norms in construing another person’s emotion displays, which can subsequently determine acceptance or rejection of that person.