Bodily Attractiveness as a Window to Women’s Fertility and Reproductive Value

Cloud, Jaime M.; Perilloux, Carin

doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-0314-6_7

Cited by 23 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 101 publications

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“…Many specific traits in women's faces and bodies (e.g., facial femininity, skin clarity, symmetry, waist-hip ratio, body mass index, breast size) have been identified as indices of women's underlying health, youth, and fertility (for a review, see Cloud and Perilloux 2014;Sugiyama 2005). Because men have recurrently selected mates based on these cues (i.e., physical attractiveness), women-more so than men-attempt to advertise and enhance their physical attractiveness to compete against intrasexual rivals (Buss 1988;Meston and Buss 2009).…”

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confidence: 99%

Envy Mediates the Link Between Social Comparison and Appearance Enhancement in Women

Arnocky

Perilloux

Cloud

et al. 2015

Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Envy has recently been considered from an evolutionary perspective as an emotion which might motivate compensatory action following unfavorable social comparisons. In two studies, the role of envy in women's motivation to enhance their physical appearance was examined. Study 1 explored the mediating role of dispositional envy on the relationship between social comparison and women's resource spending on appearanceenhancing products, desired weight loss, and tanning intention in a cross-sectional sample of undergraduate women (N=188). Controlling for age and self-perceived mate-value, results revealed that social comparison significantly predicted all three dependent variables, with mediation effects of envy on desired weight loss, consumer spending, and tanning intentions. Study 2 replicated and extended these findings via an experimental social comparison priming procedure. Women (N=90) who made social comparisons toward attractive women in magazine advertisements (N=45) reported greater state envy relative to women viewing advertisements featuring a product only (N=45). Moreover, induced state envy subsequently predicted greater willingness to use facial cosmetics and to take a risky diet pill, and increased positive attitudes toward cosmetic surgery. These results support the role of envy, activated by unfavorable social comparisons, in motivating compensatory competitive appearance enhancement behaviors.

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confidence: 99%

Envy Mediates the Link Between Social Comparison and Appearance Enhancement in Women

Arnocky

Perilloux

Cloud

et al. 2015

Evolutionary Psychological Science

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“…Smooth skin, clear eyes, and lustrous hair are perceived as attractive signals of beauty, as well as symmetric and average-looking faces (Cloud and Perilloux 2014;Thornhill 1999, 2003;Gaulin and McBurney 2004;Jones 2014). These characteristics are clues to assess the genetic quality and history of pathogens in potential mating partners.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…These characteristics are clues to assess the genetic quality and history of pathogens in potential mating partners. People who display such traits are usually described as more attractive, and it is supposed that these traits can signal a good immune system to combat pathogens and sufficient energy to invest in secondary sexual characteristics and facial symmetry (Cloud and Perilloux 2014;Thornhill 1999, 2003;Jones 2014).…”

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confidence: 99%

Investment in Beauty, Exercise, and Self-esteem: Are They Related to Self-perception as a Romantic Partner?

Mafra

Castro

Lopes

2015

Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Men and women prefer certain characteristics that are interpreted as clues to the reproductive quality of potential partners. Physical appearance, for example, is an important characteristic for both sexes because it can signal youth and fertility in females and capacity for protection, dominance, competitive ability, and high social status in males. Therefore, we predicted that people would put significant effort into improving their physical attractiveness in order to compete in the mating market, and this relationship would be influenced by self-perception and socioeconomic status. In order to investigate whether investment in beauty and exercise are related to self-perception as romantic partners and self-esteem, this study was conducted with 205 men and women of lower socioeconomic status from Brazil. They were asked about their self-esteem (Rosenberg self-esteem scale), socioeconomic status, investment in beauty, time exercising, and self-perception as a romantic partner. Although no significant relationship between self-perception as a romantic partner and exercise was found, our results suggest that female investment in beauty is related to their financial condition, whereas male investment in beauty is related to greater evaluation in handsome face, beautiful body, sociability, and agreeableness, being correlation stronger when controlled by participants' self-esteem. The results support Leary and Baumeister's sociometer theory (2000 cited in Bale and Archer Evolutionary Psychology, 11, 68-84, 2013) and Penke and Denissen's (Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 1123Personality, 42, -1129Personality, 42, , 2008 findings, in which men would associate more characteristics of their self-perception in a mate market with their self-esteem.

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“…Although according to the Sexual Strategies Theory, both men and women benefit from long-term and short-term mating strategies, there are significant differences in how each one applies these strategies. Although men tend to look for a mate with physical attractiveness and fertility value, women, in contrast, look at men's positions as well as resources and the ability of long-term provisioning (Cloud & Perilloux, 2014;Grillot, Simmons, Lukaszewski, & Roney, 2014;Schmitt, 2014).…”

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confidence: 99%

Psychometric Evaluation of the Mating Intelligence Scale in Iran

Najarpourian

Samavi

2019

Sage Open

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The cognitive abilities that are necessary to make mating interactions effectively have been described as “Mating Intelligence.” This is an evolutionary construct that has just recently initiated to receive practical consideration. This research work investigated the psychometric properties of the Persian translation of the Mating Intelligence Scale in Iran. A total of 760 male and female heterosexual participants (380 for each sex) were recruited from colleges. Participants completed a self-reported questionnaire and they also reported some demographic information such as age and their qualification degrees and major. The male and female version of the Geher and Kaufman Mating Intelligence Scale were used to gather data. We performed a confirmatory factor analysis to confirm the structure of the original version of both scales. The values of fitness indicators show that in both samples, the model benefits from good fitness. The results show that the scale and its subscales in both samples have proper reliability coefficients. In general, the use of the mating intelligence questionnaire is appropriate regarding the Iranian population due to the excellent validity and reliability and can be used in screening and therapeutic and educational situations.

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Bodily Attractiveness as a Window to Women’s Fertility and Reproductive Value

Cited by 23 publications

References 101 publications

Envy Mediates the Link Between Social Comparison and Appearance Enhancement in Women

Envy Mediates the Link Between Social Comparison and Appearance Enhancement in Women

Investment in Beauty, Exercise, and Self-esteem: Are They Related to Self-perception as a Romantic Partner?

Psychometric Evaluation of the Mating Intelligence Scale in Iran

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