The college admissions contribution to the labor market beauty premium

We used attractiveness judgements as a proxy to visualize the ideal female and male body for male and female participants and investigated how individual differences in the internalization of cultural ideals influence these representations. In the first of two studies, male and female participants judged the attractiveness of 242 male and female computer-generated bodies which varied independently in muscle and adipose. This allowed us to map changes in attractiveness across the complete body composition space, revealing single peaks for the attractiveness of both men and women. In the second study, we asked our participants to choose the most attractive male and female bodies in a method of adjustment task in which they could independently vary muscle and adipose to create the most attractive body. We asked whether individual differences in internalization of cultural ideals, drive for muscularity, eating disorder symptomatology and depressive symptoms could systematically shift the location of peak attractiveness in body composition space. We found a clear preference by both genders for a male body with high muscle and low adipose, and a toned, low adipose female body. The degree of internalization of cultural ideals predicted large individual differences in the composition of the most attractive bodies.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The degree to which the cultural ideal is internalized predicts judgments of male and female physical attractiveness

Ridley

Cornelissen²,

Maalin³

et al. 2022

“…Attractiveness has significant positive impacts on a professor’s promotion and career success ( Liu Y. et al, 2022 ). Attractive individuals may be favored in the college admissions process ( Ong, 2022 ) and get more fringe benefits at work ( Dilmaghani, 2020 ). As stated by Langlois et al (2000) : “beauty is more than just skin-deep” (p.404).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Your face looks the same as before, only prettier: The facial skin homogeneity effects on face change detection and facial attractiveness perception

Sun

Zhang

et al. 2022

Previous studies suggested that (1) facial attractiveness perception can be increased with facial skin homogeneity improving; and (2) human’s facial change detection increases along with facial skin homogeneity increases. However, it’s unknown whether a face can be perceived prettier than it did before while still being considered as physically the same. It is possible that these two kinds of cognitive-aesthetic processing may have separate mathematical functions in psychophysical studies. In other words, human’s facial attractiveness differentiation may be more sensitive than facial change detection. In this current study, we explored the above questions. Using three types of psychophysical techniques to manipulate facial skin homogeneity, we measured how participants’ sensitivity to facial skin homogeneity and attractiveness change. Results showed a linear function curve for facial physical change detection and a logarithmic function curve was drawn in the forced-choice technique, which was the most sensitive one, indicating that participants can judge a face prettier than before without being aware of it has physically changed. Besides, two linear function curves were shown in the same/different technique and a rating technique. Taken together, this current study revealed that facial attractiveness can be enhanced and discriminated by improving facial skin homogeneity, without being realized by people with conscious awareness that the face has been changed.

“…Facial attractiveness played a critical role in pain empathic responses ( Kopiś et al, 2020 ). Decades of research have proved the effect of “beauty is good,” ( Dion et al, 1972 ) which means that people will attribute more positive traits ( Shtudiner, 2020 ; Shtudiner and Klein, 2020 ; Ong, 2022 ) and generate more pro-social behaviors such as trust, cooperation and pain empathy to physically attractive people ( Chen et al, 2012 ; Balconi et al, 2020 ; Ch’ng, 2021 ). Some studies indicated that high facial attractiveness would elicit more empathetic responses than low facial attractiveness by using ERP or fMRI methods ( Jankowiak-Siuda et al, 2015 ; Balconi et al, 2020 ; Meng et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Face beauty or soul beauty? The influence of facial attractiveness and moral judgment on pain empathy

Zhu

Zhou

et al. 2022

Previous studies indicated that both facial attractiveness (face beauty) and moral judgment (soul beauty) would impact the responses to others’ pain, however, the effects from facial attractiveness were in controversial. Furthermore, whether facial attractiveness would increase or decrease the effects of moral judgment on pain empathy were still unknown. Based on the videos in which actors with high versus low facial attractiveness under pain or non-pain conditions, study 1 recruited 26 undergraduates to assess the effects of facial attractiveness on participants’ pain intensity rating scores. Then study 2 recruited 85 undergraduates to examine the effects of facial attractiveness and moral judgment on pain empathy by assessing pain intensity and self-uncomfortableness rating scores. Study 1 found that participants rated higher pain intensity scores to actors with high facial attractiveness compared to low facial attractive actors under pain condition. Study 2 found that participants showed higher pain empathic responses for actors with high moral judgment, no matter their facial attractiveness were high or low. For actors with low moral judgment under pain condition, participants showed higher pain empathy to those with high facial attractiveness compared to those with low facial attractiveness. In conclusion, facial attractiveness could facilitate the empathy responses for other’s pain. High facial attractiveness would increase the pain empathic responses to individuals with low moral judgment, however, low facial attractiveness would not decrease the pain empathic responses to individuals with high moral judgment.