Integrating body movement into attractiveness research

Fink, Bernhard; Weege, Bettina; Neave, Nick; Pham, Michael N.; Shackelford, Todd K.

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00220

Cited by 26 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Also, emotions and personality traits are expressed through motion patterns shown during dance performances [18–20]. Body motion affects the impressions people form about potential mating partners [21], politicians giving a speech [22–24] and public speakers in general [25]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Create your own stimulus: Manipulating movements according to social categories

2017

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People ascribe purposeful behaviour to the movements of artificial objects and social qualities to human body motion. We investigated how people associate simple motion cues with social categories. For a first rating-experiment we converted the body movements of speakers into stick-figure animations; for a second rating-experiment we used animations of one single dot. Rating-experiments were “reversed” because we asked participants to alter the movements (i.e., vertical amplitude, horizontal amplitude, and velocity) of the stimuli according to different instructions (e.g., create a stimulus of high dominance). Participants equipped stick figures and dot animations with expansive movements to represent high dominance. Expansive and fast movements (i.e., high velocity) were mainly associated with high aggressiveness. Fast movements were also associated with low friendliness, low trustworthiness, and low competence. Overall, patterns found for stick figure and dot animations were similar indicating that certain motion cues convey social information even when only a dot and no body form is visible. The “reverse approach” we propose here makes the impact of different components directly observable. The data generated by this method offers better insights into the interplay of these components and the ways in which they form meaningful patterns. The proposed method can be extended to other types of nonverbal cues and a variety of social categories.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Create your own stimulus: Manipulating movements according to social categories

2017

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“…However, this does not preclude the possibility that selection built sex-specific and condition-dependent dance-related adaptations to facilitate mating success. Research indicates that opposite-sex individuals are attentive to sex-typical mate quality characteristics, such as male strength and female fertility, conveyed through dance movements (Fink, Weege, Neave, Pham, and Shackelford 2015). Deriving these cues from dance movements of opposite-sex individuals does not require information about the dancer's ability to adjust to a rhythm.…”

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confidence: 98%

Why Did Dance Evolve? A Comment on Laland, Wilkins, and Clayton (2016)

Fink

Shackelford

2016

Evolutionary Psychological Science

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Human dance may have originated from selection to display quality in courtship. This proposal is based on comparative investigation of variation in motor skills in relation to mate preference and selection. However, scholars have also proposed that dance has evolved as a by-product of imitative proficiency. In this view, imitative proficiency plays a central role in dance learning and performance and facilitates movement synchronization among dancers and thus social bonding.Here we comment on a recent paper (Laland et al. in Current Biology, 26, R5-R9, 2016), which favors the latter perspective. We suggest that social bonding through dance has evolved in consequence of the adaptive problem of assessing mate qualities and other social information from body movement. This information may then have been used in strengthening social cohesion.Laland, Wilkins, and Clayton (2016) argue that human dance exploits neural circuity that evolved to facilitate imitation. In this view, dancing requires the performer to adjust his or her movements to an external or internal beat, thus demanding correspondence between an auditory input and motor output. Laland et al. therefore suggest that imitative proficiency is crucial in dancing, and may have been favored by selection to promote social learning. Laland et al. further propose that dance is an exaptation, a by-product of imitative proficiency. We argue that, in considering evidence from comparative research, this proposition prematurely dismisses the hypothesis that dance is an evolved display of motor skills and mate quality.In ritualized form, and especially with choreography, dance skills can be improved by imitation. However, this does not preclude the possibility that selection built sex-specific and condition-dependent dance-related adaptations to facilitate mating success. Research indicates that opposite-sex individuals are attentive to sex-typical mate quality characteristics, such as male strength and female fertility, conveyed through dance movements (Fink, Weege, Neave, Pham, and Shackelford 2015). Deriving these cues from dance movements of opposite-sex individuals does not require information about the dancer's ability to adjust to a rhythm. Yet, there is considerable variation in, for example, attractiveness assessments of male and female dancers, as predicted by Sexual Strategies Theory (Buss and Schmitt 1993), suggesting that dancing proficiency is a sexually selected adaptation.Dance is a complex physical, emotional, cognitive, and culturally ubiquitous social activity, characterized by intentional and rhythmic movements used to express many human facets, including sexuality (Hanna 2010). Comparative studies across taxa suggest that females select mates by evaluating male motor performance, along with conspicuous male ornaments (Byers, Hebets, and Podos 2010). Such elaborate displays are metabolically challenging and, therefore, provide honest signals of male vigor (i.e., the performance intensity of activities that require considerable energetic investment)....

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“…Thus, in addition to the face, the shape of the body, physical attributes and movements, too, are important in determining attractiveness and thus the quality of a potential mate (138).…”

Section: Bodily Features That Are Found Attractivementioning

confidence: 99%

The neurobiology and evolutionary foundations of the perception of beauty

Eşel¹

2017

Dusunen Adam

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The neurobiology and evolutionary foundations of the perception of beauty Beauty in human beings can be defined as physical attractiveness to the opposite sex. Although the perception of attractiveness varies between cultures and individuals to a certain extent, it is established that most of the criteria for attractiveness are common among many cultures. According to evolutionary psychologists, facial and body-related features that people find attractive reflect the adaptations determined by sexual selection, which is one of the driving forces of evolution. These adaptations evolved to explore the mate value and reproductive success of a potential partner. Being attractive provides many social advantages to a person, and it is known that people make some positive attributions about other characteristics of such a person as well. Among humans, features such as facial beauty, youth, body shape, behaviors, voice tone, and ornamentation are important factors in the evaluation of attractiveness of the opposite sex.Keywords: Attractiveness, evolutionary psychology, mate selection, neurobiology ÖZET Güzellik algılamasının nörobiyolojisi ve evrimsel temelleriİnsanda güzellik kavramı karşı cins tarafından fiziksel olarak çekici bulunma niteliği olarak tanımlanabilir. Kültüre ve kişiye göre güzellik algılaması bir miktar değişken olsa da çoğu kültürde güzellik ölçütlerinin önemli bir bölümünün ortak olduğu ortaya konulmaktadır. Evrimci psikologlara göre insanların karşı cinste güzel bulduğu yüz ve bedenle ilişkili özellikler daha çok evrimin itici güçlerinden birisi olan cinsel seçilimin şekillendirdiği adaptasyonları yansıtmaktadır. Bu adaptasyonlar potansiyel bir eşin eş olarak değerinin ve üreme başarısının araştırılmasına yönelik olarak gelişmişlerdir. Güzel olmanın sosyal yaşamda kişiye sağladığı birçok faydalar olduğu gibi, bu kişilere diğer insanlarca başka kişisel özellikler bakımından da olumlu atıflar yapıldığı bilinmektedir.İnsanlarda karşı cinsin güzelliğinin değerlendirilmesinde bakılan kişinin yüz güzelliği, genç görünümü, beden şekli, davranışları, ses tonu ve süslenmesi gibi etkenler önemli bulunmaktadır.

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Integrating body movement into attractiveness research

Cited by 26 publications

References 61 publications

Create your own stimulus: Manipulating movements according to social categories

Create your own stimulus: Manipulating movements according to social categories

Why Did Dance Evolve? A Comment on Laland, Wilkins, and Clayton (2016)

The neurobiology and evolutionary foundations of the perception of beauty

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