Beauty or Brains: Which Image for Your Mate?

Abstract

Male and female subjects evaluated a male after seeing a videotape of him with his girlfriend. The attractiveness and intelligence of the girlfriend was varied. A multivariate analysis of variance on 10 dependent measures showed the male to be evalu ated more favorably when his partner was more attractive or more intelligent. Univariate analysis showed attractiveness affected all of the dependent measures. Intelligence affected a more select group of attributes--talent, self-confidence, and intelli gence--but affected this group about as much as attractiveness did. Intelligence and beauty have special and different places in the interpersonal marketplace.

What Is Intelligent, As Well As Attractive, Is Good

“…As in the present study, &dquo;objective&dquo; information about the person modified an impression based on appearance. Our results also parallel those of Meiners and Sheposh (1977) who used a videotape procedure similar to that of the present study. They found that a woman's physical attractiveness _and intelligence &dquo;radiated&dquo; to affect the impressions formed of her &dquo;boyfriend&dquo;.…”

External Validity of Matching on Physical Attractiveness for Same and Opposite Sex Couples1

“…While evidence for a general halo effect is fairly strong in laboratory research, studies of halo effects on ratings of physical attractiveness are decidedly mixed. Studies by Sigall and Landy (1973), Bar-Tal and Saxe (1976), and Kernis and Wheeler (1981) found no halo effect for ratings of physical attractiveness, whde those of Meiners and Sheposh (1977) and Strane and Watts (1977) did. It should be noted that the latter two studies measured the halo effect under extreme discrepancies in physical attractiveness.…”

Untitled

“…It is also perceived that people that are more attractive are more intelligent, and such people have more successful jobs, and lead social lives that are happier. This is usually denoted as Meiners and Sheposh (1977) puts it as the ‗halo effect'. This concept was also employed in product designs, in which case, the products' visual attractiveness is driven by its aesthetic qualities; implying that, the more beautiful or attractive a product is, the more it may be appealing to its users/consumers.…”