Unattractive people are unaware of their (un)attractiveness

Past research has shown that how people rate their physical attractiveness is only moderately correlated with how they are rated by others, suggesting that at least some people have little insight into their true level of attractiveness. The present research tests the hypothesis that unattractive people are not aware of their unattractiveness. In fact, six studies (overall N = 1,180) showed that unattractive participants considerably overestimated their attractiveness compared to ratings by strangers. In contrast, attractive participants were more accurate. If anything, they underestimated their attractiveness. It was also examined why unattractive people overestimate their attractiveness. As expected, unattractive participants differentiated less between attractive and unattractive stimulus persons than did attractive participants. They were also more likely than attractive participants to select unattractive stimulus persons to compare themselves to. However, these tendencies did not account for why unattractive participants overestimated their attractiveness, nor did affirming participant’s self-worth. Limitations and avenues for future research are discussed.     

Nature of screen violence and its relation to program popularity

This study was designed to analyze the context-specific variation in the amount, intensity, and attractiveness of screen violence in Finnish network TV programs (n = 259). The additional aim was to investigate whether the violence content enhances the popularity of a program. Typically, the frequency and intensity of violent constructions varied with program type, and with cultural and temporal settings, but the attractiveness of violence varied only with program type. Violence in non-fiction was generally less frequent, less intense, and less attractive than that in fiction. U.S. fiction contained violence more frequently than Finnish fiction, while violence in exported European films was, on average, more intense than in other productions. Attractive style of violent portrayals was represented equally in fiction regardless of the TV culture. Higher violence content or attractiveness of TV violence did not contribute toward larger audiences. However, there was a moderate correlation between the intensity of violence and the popularity of a program. Aggr. Behav. 23:281–292, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

The structure of and changes to the life values of Japanese consumers

As the standard of living improves and the number of choices expands, consumer behavior shifts from meeting needs to realizing the specific life values of each consumer. A structural analysis of life values was performed to increase understanding of consumer behavior as a whole, so that effective marketing strategies can be prepared. The structural analysis of life values was conducted by plotting daily activities in an evaluation space, which was defined by "necessity,""attractiveness," and "ease of achievement," and also by factor analysis of these daily activities. Using this method, we measured the structure of the daily activities of Japanese consumers, and then examined the value structure of time-consuming activities, which our research suggests will be considered highly attractive in the future. Based on the results of the surveys, we discuss the development of the market for highly attractive activities and products. However, an improvement in life infrastructure is a prerequisite to realizing a market for highly attractive activities and products.     

Schematic Responses to Sexual Harassment Complainants: The Influence of Gender and Physical Attractiveness

This study was designed to examine the characteristics of a sexual harassment schema and its consequences using expectancy-violation theory as a framework for investigating an ostensible organizational grievance. Reactions to sexual harassment complainants were expected to be less favorable when the complainant was male than when the complainant was female. Results for the complainants of sexual harassment confirmed that men were believed less, liked less, and punished more than women. Furthermore, the tendency to believe and like female complainants more than male complainants was stronger when complainants were physically attractive. This study contributes to a growing body of research on gender schemas in the context of sexual harassment.     

催产素对社会善念的提升作用

两个实验考察催产素对社会善念的作用以及面孔吸引力对二者关系的影响。实验1采用双盲实验，使用安慰剂作对照，发现催产素可以促进社会善念，不受面孔性别的影响。实验2依然采用双盲实验，进一步考察面孔吸引力与面孔性别对催产素与社会善念关系的作用，发现催产素对社会善念的作用不受面孔吸引力的影响；女性面孔（与男性面孔相比）吸引力对男性的社会善念影响更大。研究表明，催产素可以稳定地提高社会善念水平。     

言语吸引力影响因素探索：物理属性和社会特征

语音吸引力是个体吸引力的重要组成部分。为探索言语吸引力影响因素,以汉语词汇为材料,设计实验分析语音基频、共振峰等物理属性以及词义、声音受喜欢程度和语音性别等社会属性对语音吸引力的影响。结果表明：分析物理属性,基频、共振峰等并未能预测语音吸引力;分析社会属性,较之词语意义,声音本身具有的吸引力水平对言语吸引力评价影响更大;而男性和女性对两种性别言语吸引力评价差异不显著。言语吸引力评价在男性和女性间具有一致性：＂好声音＂比＂会说话＂更加容易被认为具有吸引力。     

Judging the differences between women's attractiveness and health: Is there really a difference between judgments made by men and women?

Perceived weight in the face and body size have been shown to be significant predictors of both attractiveness and health. Studies looking at the relationship between attractiveness, perceived health, and perceived weight in faces have found that individuals prefer a lower weight for attractiveness than for apparent health. Here, a group of twenty-four Asian participants were allowed to manipulate the apparent body mass indices (BMIs) of full-length photographs of young Malaysian Chinese women to enhance their perceived healthiness and attractiveness. Results showed that both men and women differentiated between attractiveness and health by preferring a lower BMI for attractiveness than health, suggesting a consistency in the preferred ideal BMI for attractiveness and healthy appearance across both sexes. Results also suggested that BMI provides important cues to judgments of attractive and healthy appearance.     

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

Past research suggests that a lower waist-to-chest ratio (WCR) in men (i.e., narrower waist and broader chest) is viewed as attractive by women. However, little work has directly examined why low WCRs are preferred. The current work merged insights from theory and past research to develop a model examining perceived dominance, fitness, and protection ability as mediators of to WCR-attractiveness relationship. These mediators and their link to both short-term (sexual) and long-term (relational) attractiveness were simultaneously tested by having 151 women rate one of 15 avatars, created from 3D body scans. Men with lower WCR were perceived as more physically dominant, physically fit, and better able to protect loved ones; these characteristics differentially mediated the effect of WCR on short-term, long-term, and general attractiveness ratings. Greater understanding of the judgments women form regarding WCR may yield insights into motivations by men to manipulate their body image.     

Women's hairstyle and men's behavior: A field experiment

Little research has examined the effect of women's hairstyles on people's behavior. In a field study, male and female passersby, walking alone in the street, were observed while walking behind a female‐confederate who dropped a glove and apparently was unaware of her loss. The confederate had long dark hair arranged in three different hairstyles: one with her hair falling naturally on her shoulders and her back, one with her hair tied in a ponytail, and one with her hair twisted in a bun. Results reported that the hairstyle had no effect on female passersby's helping behavior. However, it was found that the hairstyle influenced male passersby with men helping the confederate more readily when her hair fell naturally on her neck, shoulders and upper back.     

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.