Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Attractive Women
Author(s): Lihi Segal-Caspi, Sonia Roccas and Lilach Sagiv
Source: Psychological Science, Vol. 23, No. 10 (OCTOBER 2012), pp. 1112-1116
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of the Association for Psychological Science
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23355503
Accessed: 10-04-2020 15:12 UTC
REFERENCES
Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/23355503?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents
You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
Sage Publications, Inc., Association for Psychological Science are collaborating with
JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Psychological Science
This content downloaded from 193.188.128.21 on Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:12:25 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
I ASSOCIATION FOR
PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Research Report
Psychological Science
23(10) 1112-1116
Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover, Revisited: ©The Author(s) 2012
Reprints and permission:
®SAGE
Abstract
Research has documented a robust stereotype regarding personality attributes related to physical attractivenes
is beautiful is good" stereotype). But do physically attractive women indeed possess particularly attractive inn
Studying traits and values, we investigated two complementary questions: how perceived attractiveness relates
personality, and how it relates to actual personality. First, 118 women reported their traits and values and we
reading the weather forecast. Then, 118 judges rated the traits, values, and attractiveness of the women. As h
attractiveness correlated with attribution of desirable traits, but not with attribution of values. By contrast,
correlated with actual values, but not actual traits: Attractiveness correlated with tradition and conformity va
were contrasted with self-direction values) and with self-enhancement values (which were contrasted with uni
values). Thus, despite the widely accepted "what is beautiful is good" stereotype, our findings suggest that the be
for conformity rather than independence and for self-promotion rather than tolerance.
Keywords
personal values, social perception, personality, physical appearance, physical attractiveness
This content downloaded from 193.188.128.21 on Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:12:25 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover, Revisited 1113
Commonalities and Differences Between socially desirable traits. Drawing on research on the soci
Traits and Values desirability of the FFM traits (e.g., Bäckström, Björklund,
Larsson, 2009; Viswesvaran & Ones, 1999), we hypothesiz
Traits and values both refer to broadly defined individual
that the
dif more a woman is judged as physically attractive, th
ferences, stable over time and across situations, that
more
predict
she will be judged as agreeable, extraverted, conscien
attitudes and behaviors (for traits, see reviews in Poropat,
tious, open to experiences, and emotionally stable. Thus, we
2009, and Sibley & Duckitt, 2008; for values, see reviews
expected
in a conceptual replication of past findings regardin
Hitlin & Piliavin, 2004, and Roccas & Sagiv, 2010). theThe
stereotypical view of attractive women. We expected a d
development of traits and the development of values ferentare
pattern for values, however. Unlike traits, values ar
seen
closely intertwined, and traits and values are likely to as desirable, and people tend to be very satisfied with
affect
their
each other (Roccas, Sagiv, Schwartz, & Knafo, 2002), but own personal values (Roccas, Sagiv, Oppenheim, Elster
they
are not synonymous. Traits are enduring dispositions, & Gal, 2011). Thus, when people judge targets' values, t
reflected
in consistent patterns of cognition, emotion, and behavior
"what is beautiful is good" stereotype is likely to "translat
(Costa & McCrae, 1992). Values are desirable, transdifferently for different judges, according to their persona
situational goals that serve as guiding principles in people'svalues. We therefore expected no systematic relationship
lives (Rokeach, 1973; Schwartz, 1992). Traits describe what between perceived attractiveness and perceived values.
people are like, whereas values refer to what people consider
to be important (Roccas et al., 2002). We suggest that the dif
ferences between traits and values have implications for their
From Stereotypes to Actual Differences:
Traits and Values of Attractive Women
relationship to physical attractiveness.
We drew on the five-factor model of traits (FFM; CostaSeveral
& studies have investigated physical attractiveness an
McCrae, 1992) and on Schwartz's (1992) values theory to for actual inner qualities, yielding complex findings: Attractiv
mulate our hypotheses. According to the FFM, there are five ness correlated positively with social skills and physical heal
(Langlois et al., 2000) and negatively with loneliness a
basic factors that describe most personality traits: agreeable
ness, openness to experience, extraversion, conscientiousness,
social anxiety (Feingold, 1992). It was unrelated to many oth
and neuroticism. Schwartz's theory identifies 10 motivation characteristics, such as dominance, sociability, and men
health (Feingold, 1992). Explaining these findings, Feingold
ally distinct value types: tradition, conformity, security, power,
achievement, hedonism, stimulation, self-direction, universal
(1992) suggested that attractiveness increases access to soci
ism, and benevolence. Both theories have been validated inencounters, which in turn improves social adjustment.
extensive cross-cultural research (e.g., McCrae & Terracciano, Feingold's (1992) reasoning assumes that attractivene
2005, for traits; Schwartz, 1992, and Schwartz & Rubel, 2005,
affects inner attributes. We suggest that the opposite is al
for values). possible: Inner attributes may affect attractiveness. People
Traits and values are systematically related (e.g., Aluja & have some control over the extent to which they are judged
Garcia, 2004; De Raad & Van Oudenhoven, 2008; Roccas attractive. One can control—at least to some extent—the
et al., 2002). Typically, agreeableness correlates positively sophistication of one's dress and hairstyle, the cultivation of
with benevolence and tradition values and negatively with one's voice, and the shape of one's body. We reasoned that
power values; openness to experience correlates positively values are likely to affect the self-investment needed to
with self-direction, universalism, and stimulation values and increase attractiveness. As representations of basic motiva
negatively with tradition, conformity, and security values; extra tions, values affect goal-directed action (Bardi & Schwartz,
version correlates positively with stimulation, achievement, and 2003). People plan and carry out behavior that enhances their
hedonism values and negatively with tradition values; and con chances to attain their important values (Maio, Pakizeh,
scientiousness correlates positively with achievement, confor Cheung, & Rees, 2009). When physical attractiveness leads to
mity, and security values. Neuroticism does not correlate with the attainment of important values, people are likely to invest
values. in becoming more attractive.
Unlike values, traits express what people are like, not what
goals they wish to attain. Thus, traits do not predict behavior
The Stereotype Associated With Physical that requires planning and cognitive control as well as values
Attractiveness: Perceived Traits and Values
do (Roccas et al., 2002; Sagiv, Sverdlik, & Schwarz, 2011).
Past studies examined the stereotypes associated withWe physical
reasoned that investing in physical attractiveness requires
attractiveness by focusing on specific attributes, suchmotivation
as social and planning. It is therefore likely to be driven by
appeal, interpersonal competence, or psychological adjust
values, but not by traits.
ment (for a review, see Langlois et al., 2000). By contrast, we values are likely to lead individuals to invest in their
Which
studied broad personality traits, relying on the FFM. We sug
physical attractiveness? We suggest two main motivations.
The first
gest that the "what is beautiful is good" stereotype (Dion is the motivation to submit to social norms and con
et al.,
1972) amounts to perceiving attractive women asventions,
havingexpressed by the wish to obey social expectations
This content downloaded from 193.188.128.21 on Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:12:25 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1114 Segal-Caspi et al.
(conformity values)
Judges. The judges' dataand
were collected follow
separately, and the
(tradition values). Women
judges did not know the wh
targets. Each judge saw the videotape
likely to be especially attentiv
of a different target, chosen randomly; evaluated the target's
what makes values andphysically
one traits (in counterbalanced order); and then
attr evalu
these messages.
ated her Thus, we
attractiveness, along with hypo
other physical attributes.
formity and tradition values w
being judged as attractive. We
Measures
direction values, which focus o
action, would Values.
have Participantsthe
completed the Schwartz Value Survey
opposit
attractiveness.(SVS; Women
Schwartz, 1992). Targets ratedwho
the importance ofemeach
to ignore social
of 57 items,
norms on a 9-point scale ranging
regardin
from -1 (opposed to my
not. Instead, values) through
they 0 (not important)
may to 7 {of supreme impor
develop
be seen as less attractive. tance). Judges used the same scale to evaluate the values o
A second motivation that may lead to investment in one'sthe targets. Cronbach alphas ranged from .65 to .83, with the
physical attractiveness is self-enhancement. This motivation isexception of the alpha for hedonism items completed by the
expressed in the importance attributed to influence and presjudges (.49).
tige (power values), exhibiting success (achievement values),
and self-indulgence (hedonism values). Attractiveness proPersonality traits. The FFM personality traits were measured
motes the attainment of these values because it facilitates gainwith Saucier's (1994) mini-markers. Targets rated the accu
ing privilege, status, wealth, and power (Anderson, Grunert,racy of each of 40 adjectives in describing themselves, using a
Katz, & Lovascio, 2010; Haas & Gregory, 2005). Thus, we 5-point scale that ranged from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very well).
hypothesized that emphasizing power, achievement, and hedo Judges used the same scale to evaluate the traits of the targets.
nism values would correlate positively with attractiveness. WeCronbach alphas ranged from .65 to .76.
expected the opposite for universalism values, which encour
age acceptance of people and ideas that are different and unfa Physical attractiveness. Judges completed a physical
miliar. Women who emphasize universalism values are likely attributes questionnaire (Borkenau & Liebler, 1992). They
to advocate tolerance toward various styles of appearance.rated the targets on 41 bipolar characteristics, using a 7-point
They are less likely to invest in becoming attractive accordingscale ranging from -3 to 3. We averaged ratings for the 7 items
to social standards, and may hence be seen as less attractive. that directly assessed physical attractiveness: attractive, pleas
ant voice, fluent and cursive speaking, easy to understand,
refined appearance, fashionable dress, and proportionate
Method
body (a = .72).
Participants and procedure
Results and Discussion
Participants were university students who participated for
course credit. They served either as targets (n = 118;The
100%stereotype associated with
female; mean age = 28.99 years) or as judges (n = 118; 59%
physical attractiveness
female, 41% male; mean age = 29.9 years). The students
Table 1 presents the correlations between judges' ratings
received credit toward a research participation requirement.
attractiveness of the targets and their ratings of the t
Targets. The targets completed values and traits question
traits and values. Findings did not vary according to the
naires (in counterbalanced order, without time limit) upon
of the judge or the order of the questionnaires. As hy
sized, perceiving a target as physically attractive was
arriving at the laboratory. They were then videotaped entering
ated with perceiving her as agreeable, open to expe
a room, walking around a table looking at the camera, reading
extraverted,
a standard text (a weather forecast), and leaving the room. conscientious, and emotionally stable. We
This took about 60 s. The targets were aware that theyexpect
were perceived values to be associated with perceived
being videotaped and gave permission for use of thetiveness,
video and indeed, only achievement values correlat
tapes in our research. This procedure followed the onenificantly
devel with attractiveness. When entered in a reg
equation,
oped by Borkenau and Liebler (1992), which is one of the the five traits explained 29% of the vari
attractiveness,
dominant paradigms in research on impression formation. We F(5, 112) = 9.28,/? < .001. The coefficien
all trait factors were in the expected direction, and ex
preferred this method to using photographs because it allows
sion, openness to experience, and conscientiousness
the judges to be exposed to both visual and auditory informa
cantly predicted attractiveness, ?s(l 12) = 2.47, 2.13, an
tion, thereby enriching the modality through which physical
attractiveness is judged. respectively, all ps < .05. The impact of emotional stabil
This content downloaded from 193.188.128.21 on Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:12:25 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover, Revisited IIIS
second
Table I. Correlations of Perceived Physical step, they With
Attractiveness did not
Values and Traits variance, AF(5, 109) = 0
which the predictors wer
Value or trait Judge's report Target's report hypothesized, traits did n
Value 1.23, n.s. When values we
Self-direction . 15 -.25** did add significantly to t
Uriiversalism .00 -.22* 6.86, p < .005. Thus, resul
Benevolence -. 10 .03 gets' values (but not th
Tradition -.09 .21* attractiveness.
This content downloaded from 193.188.128.21 on Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:12:25 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
1116 Segal-Caspi et al.
De Raad, B., & Van Oudenhoven, J. P. (2008). Factors of values in L., Sverdlik, N., & Schwarz, N. (2011). To compete or to coop
Sagiv,
the Dutch language and their relationship to factors of personalerate? Values' impact on perception and action in social dilemma
games. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 64-77.
ity. European Journal of Personality, 22, 81-108. doi: 10.1002/
per.667 doi:10.1002/ejsp.729
Dion, K., Berscheid, E., & Walster, E. (1972). What is beautiful is Saucier, G. (1994). Mini-markers: A brief version of Goldberg's uni
good. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 24, 285 polar big-five markers. Journal of Personality Assessment, 63,
290. doi:10.1037/h0033731 506-516. doi: 10.1207/sl 5327752jpa6303_8
Feingold, A. (1992). Good-looking people are not what weSchwartz,
think. S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of val
Psychological Bulletin, 111, 304—341. doi:10.1037/0033-2909
ues: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. In
.111.2.304 M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology
Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T.-A. (1997). Objectification theory:
(Vol. 25, pp. 1-65). New York, NY: Academic Press, doi: 10.1016/
Toward understanding women's lived experiences and menS0065-2601(08)60281-6
Schwartz, S. H., & Rubel, T. (2005). Sex differences in value pri
tal health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173-206.
doi: 10.1111/j. 1471 -6402.1997.tb00108.x orities: Cross-cultural and multimethod studies. Journal of Per
sonality and Social Psychology, 89, 1010-1028. doi: 10.1037/
Haas, A., & Gregory, S. W., Jr. (2005). The impact of physical
0022-3514.89.6.1010
attractiveness on women's social status and interactional power.
Sibley, C. G., & Duckitt, J. (2008). Personality and prejudice: A
Sociological Forum, 20, 449-471. doi: 10.1007/sl 1206-005
6597-2 meta-analysis and theoretical review. Personality and Social Psy
Hitlin, S., & Piliavin, J. A. (2004). Values: Reviving a dormant con chology Review, 12, 248-279. doi: 10.1177/1088868308319226
cept. Annual Review of Sociology, 30, 359-393. doi: 10.1146/Viswesvaran, C., & Ones, D. S. (1999). Meta-analysis of fakabilit
annurev.soc.30.012703.110640 estimates: Implications for personality measurement. Educational
and Psychological Measurement, 59, 197-210. doi: 10.1177/
Langlois, J. H., Kalakanis, L., Rubenstein, A. J., Larson, A., Hallam,
00131649921969802
M., & Smoot, M. (2000). Maxims or myths of beauty? A meta
analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin,Wertheim,
126, E. H., Paxton, S. J., Schultz, H. K., & Muir, S. L. (1997).
390-423. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.126.3.390 Why do adolescent girls watch their weight? An interview study
Maio, G. R., Pakizeh, A., Cheung, W. Y., & Rees, K. J. (2009). sociocultural pressures to be thin. Journal of Psycholog
examining
ical Research, 42,345-355. doi:10.1016/S0022-3999(96)00368-6
Changing, priming, and acting on values: Effects via motivational
This content downloaded from 193.188.128.21 on Fri, 10 Apr 2020 15:12:25 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms