6533b839fe1ef96bd12a5a42
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Predictors of enhancing human physical attractiveness: Data from 93 countries
Marta KowalPiotr SorokowskiKatarzyna PisanskiJaroslava V. ValentovaMarco A.c. VarellaDavid A. FrederickLaith Al-shawafFelipe E. GarcíaIsabella GiammussoBiljana GjoneskaLuca KozmaTobias OtterbringMarietta Papadatou-pastouGerit PfuhlSabrina StöckliAnna StudzinskaEzgi Toplu-demirtaşAnna K. TouloumakosBence E. BakosCarlota BatresSolenne BonneterreJohanna Czamanski-cohenJovi C. DacanayEliane DeschrijverMaryanne L. FisherCaterina GranoDmitry GrigoryevPavol KačmárMikhail V. KozlovEfisio ManuntaKarlijn MassarJoseph P. McfallMoises MebarakMaria Rosa MiccoliTaciano L. MilfontPavol ProkopToivo AavikPatrícia ArriagaRoberto BaioccoJiří ČEněkHakan ÇEtinkayaIzzet DuyarFarida GuemazTatsunori IshiiJulia A. KamburidisHareesol Khun-inkeereeLinda H. LidborgHagar ManorRavit NussinsonMohd Sofian B. Omar-fauzeeFarid PazhoohiKoen PonnetAnabela Caetano SantosOksana SenykOgnen SpasovskiMona VintilaAustin H. WangGyesook YooOulmann ZerhouniRizwana AminSibele AquinoMerve BoğaMahmoud BoussenaAli R. CanSeda CanRita CastroAntonio ChirumboloOgeday ÇOkerClément CornecSeda DuralStephanie J. EderNasim Ghahraman MoharrampourSimone GrassiniEvgeniya HristovaGözde IkizerNicolas KervynMehmet KoyuncuYoshihiko KunisatoSamuel LinsTetyana MandzykSilvia MariAlan D.a. MattiassiAybegum Memisoglu-sanliMara MorelliFelipe C. NovaesMiriam PariseIrena Pavela BanaiMariia PerunNejc PlohlFatima Zahra SahliDušana ŠAkanSanja Smojver-azicÇAğlar SolakSinem SöylemezAsako ToyamaAnna WlodarczykYuki YamadaBeatriz Abad-villaverdeReza AfhamiGrace AkelloNael H. AlamiLeyla AlmaMarios ArgyridesDerya AtamtürkNana BurduliSayra CardonaJoão CarneiroAndrea CastañedaIzabela ChałatkiewiczWilliam J. ChopikDimitri ChubinidzeDaniel Conroy-beamJorge Contreras-garduñoDiana Ribeiro Da SilvaYahya B. DonSilvia DonatoDmitrii DubrovMichaela DuračkováSanjana DuttSamuel O. EbimgboIgnacio EstevanEdgardo EtchezaharPeter FedorFeten Fekih-romdhaneTomasz FrackowiakKatarzyna GalasinskaŁUkasz GargulaBenjamin GelbartTalia Gomez YepesBrahim HamdaouiIvana HromatkoSalome N. ItibiLuna JaforteSteve M.j. JanssenMarija JovicKevin S. KertechianFarah KhanAleksander KobylarekMaida Koso-drljevicAnna KrasnodębskaValerija KrižanićMiguel Landa-blancoAlvaro MailhosTiago MarotTamara Martinac DorcicMartha Martinez-banfiMat Rahimi YusofMarlon Mayorga-lascanoVita MikuličiūtėKatarina MišetićBojan MusilArooj NajmussaqibKavitha Nalla MuthuJean C. NatividadeIzuchukwu L.g. NdukaiheEllen K. NyhusElisabeth OberzaucherSalma S. OmarFranciszek OstaszewskiMa. Criselda T. PacquingAriela F. PaganiJu Hee ParkEkaterine PirtskhalavaUlf-dietrich ReipsMarc Eric S. ReyesJan P. RöerAyşegül ŞAhinAdil SamekinRūta SargautytėTatiana SemenovskikhHenrik SiepelmeyerSangeeta SinghAlicja SołtysAgnieszka SorokowskaRodrigo Soto-lópezLiliya SultanovaWilliam Tamayo-agudeloChee-seng TanGulmira T. TopanovaMerve Topcu BulutBastien TrémolièreSingha TulyakulBelgüzar N. TürkanArkadiusz UrbanekTatiana VolkodavKathryn V. WalterMohd Faiz Mohd YaakobMarcos Zumárraga-espinosasubject
Objectification TheoryREDES SOCIAISSEX-DIFFERENCESSelf-modificationEvolution:Humanidades::Outras Humanidades [Domínio/Área Científica]Facial Attractiveness:Ciências Médicas::Ciências da Saúde [Domínio/Área Científica]Social SciencesExperimental and Cognitive Psychology:Ciências Sociais::Psicologia [Domínio/Área Científica]Evolutionary PerspectiveSelf-ObjectificationPathogen stressEVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVESocial media usageArts and Humanities (miscellaneous)Behavior and Systematicsddc:150Womens Body-ImageMating market perspective:Ciências Naturais::Ciências Biológicas [Domínio/Área Científica]WOMENS BODY-IMAGEEcology Evolution Behavior and SystematicsOBJECTIFICATION THEORYM-PSI/05 - PSICOLOGIA SOCIALEEvolutionary theory ; Mating market perspective ; Pathogen stress ; Appearance ; Self-modification ; Social media usageGender-RoleEcologyMATE PREFERENCES:Samfunnsvitenskap: 200 [VDP]Mate PreferencesEvolutionary theoryPERSONAL ORNAMENTSAppearanceSELF-OBJECTIFICATIONGENDER-ROLEAppearance; Evolutionary theory; Mating market perspective; Pathogen stress; Self-modification; Social media usageSettore M-PSI/05 - PSICOLOGIA SOCIALESocial Media UseSOCIAL MEDIA USESex-DifferencesVDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200FACIAL ATTRACTIVENESS:Ciências Naturais::Ciências da Terra e do Ambiente [Domínio/Área Científica]Pathogen strePersonal Ornamentsdescription
People across the world and throughout history have gone to great lengths to enhance their physical appearance. Evolutionary psychologists and ethologists have largely attempted to explain this phenomenon via mating preferences and strategies. Here, we test one of the most popular evolutionary hypotheses for beauty-enhancing behaviors, drawn from mating market and parasite stress perspectives, in a large cross-cultural sample. We also test hypotheses drawn from other influential and non-mutually exclusive theoretical frameworks, from biosocial role theory to a cultural media perspective. Survey data from 93,158 human participants across 93 countries provide evidence that behaviors such as applying makeup or using other cosmetics, hair grooming, clothing style, caring for body hygiene, and exercising or following a specific diet for the specific purpose of improving ones physical attractiveness, are universal. Indeed, 99% of participants reported spending >10 min a day performing beauty-enhancing behaviors. The results largely support evolutionary hypotheses: more time was spent enhancing beauty by women (almost 4 h a day, on average) than by men (3.6 h a day), by the youngest participants (and contrary to predictions, also the oldest), by those with a relatively more severe history of infectious diseases, and by participants currently dating compared to those in established relationships. The strongest predictor of attractiveness-enhancing behaviors was social media usage. Other predictors, in order of effect size, included adhering to traditional gender roles, residing in countries with less gender equality, considering oneself as highly attractive or, conversely, highly unattractive, TV watching time, higher socioeconomic status, right-wing political beliefs, a lower level of education, and personal individualistic attitudes. This study provides novel insight into universal beauty-enhancing behaviors by unifying evolutionary theory with several other complementary perspectives.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-11-01 |