The Effect of Physical Attractiveness on Personality Ratings

1
The Effect of Physical Attractiveness on
Personality Ratings

• By Carrie Cook, Shauna McGinty, Kendra Roos
• University of Dayton

2
Background Studies

• Dion, Berscheid, and Walster (1972)
• First significant study on the What-is-beautiful-
  is-good theory
• Supported that more attractive individuals were
  attributed with more socially desirable
  personality traits

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Supporting Research

• Perlini, Bertolissi, Lind (1999)
• Concluded that regardless of age, attractive
  females were found more socially desirable that
  unattractive females
• Follow-up study looked at similar effects upon
  males
• Karraker Stern (1990)
• Even infants are shown to be judged on physical
  appearance

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Purpose of Current Study

• To see the effect of physical attractiveness on
  rating personality characteristics
• Specifically on potential adoptive mothers
• Little research has been done on characteristic
  judgments of mothers

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Hypothesis

• More attractive stimuli would be rated more
  positively than less attractive stimuli based on
  motherly characteristics

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Methodology

• Design
• Single Factor Between-Subjects ANOVA
• Procedure
• Panel of 6 students judged 24 pictures
• 36 participants rated stimuli on 10 7-point
  bipolar characteristic traits

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First Session

• 24 stimuli were chosen by the experimenters.
• A panel of 6 participants narrowed down the 24
  stimuli to 12 into 3 conditions.
• 3 conditions
• Attractive
• Average
• Unattractive

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Second and Third Sessions

• 20 participants were chosen systematically
• Main Lobby
• 16 participants were used from an Experimental
  Psychology class

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Procedure Cont.

• 2-page packet
• Scenario on first page
• Stimuli and 10 7-point bipolar characteristics on
  second page

Imagine that you are going to become a teenage
parent and you have no choice but to put your
child up for adoption. On the following page is a
picture of the possible adoptive mother. She is
in her late twenties and would be a stay-at home
mom. Her husband is also in her late twenties,
maintaining a stable job with enough income to
support the family. They are both in good health,
and have family close by that will be actively
involved in the childs life. Please rate the
woman on the characteristics listed as you would
see her fit to parent your own child.
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3 Characteristic Traits

• Only 3 of the 10 were analyzed
• Selfish Unselfish
• Sensitive Insensitive
• Emotionally Stable Emotionally Unstable

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Results

• No significant results were found

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Selfish/Unselfish Characteristic
13
Sensitive/Insensitive Characteristic
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Emotionally Stable/Unstable Characteristic
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Possible Explanations

• Participants judged stimuli based on the scenario
• Different presentation of stimuli

16
Future Studies

• Use a different scenario
• Stimuli chosen by randomization instead of by
  panel
• Blind selection