Beauty Can't Be Beat
Even though people won’t admit it, beauty/physical attractiveness is the single most important characteristic I n determining people’s friends, lovers, and spouses. Most of the time when people are asked what they look for in someone, they say honesty, sincerity, intelligence, warmth, or a sense of humor. Most often than not, physical attractiveness is not even mentioned, but there is body evidence that claims that beauty is important to people.
The power of physical attractiveness is shown by studies of couples on blind dates. Psychologist Elaine Walster and her colleagues paired students on a random basis, but the man always being taller than the woman. Before they met, each of the pair was rated for attractiveness and also assessed on intelligence, personality, and social skills. After attending a dance together, they were asked how much they liked their partners and whether or not they wanted to see them again. Studies showed that they student’s interest in his/her date depended solely upon the date’s attractiveness. Personality, intelligence, and social skills played no part. The only thing that mattered for both genders was looks.
Researchers at the Universities of Minnesota and Wisconsin gave a large group of men and women a series of photographs and they were asked to gauge the personality traits of the people in the pictures. The more attractive people were thought to be kinder, stronger, more interesting, poised, modest, sociable, outgoing and sexier than unattractive people. The more attractive people were expected to get more prestigious jobs, more good husbands/wives, and have happy marriages.
The advantages of being attractive start early. Psychologists Karen Dion and Ellen Berscheid went to a nursery school and asked children between the ages of four and six to name classmates they liked best. They had said that they good-looking children were the children they liked best. They also thought the homely kids were aggressive and unfriendly.
Another study that was done for when children were younger, is Margaret Clifford and Elaine Walster showed report cards to 400 teachers and asked them to evaluate the children. Sometimes attached to the card was a picture of the student. If the student was more attractive the teacher thought that they had a higher IQ and that they parents were interested in their education. They also thought they got along better with their peers. This showed that the teachers share children’s prejudices.
Not only is prejudice of beauty showed in school, but it is even showed in the courts, where justice is supposed to be blind. Harold Sigall and Nancy Ostrove asked students at the University of Maryland to read the account of a crime and then suggest an appropriate punishment for the offender. Sometimes the guilty woman was depicted in a picture. Other times they wouldn’t know what they offender looked like. The lack of beauty didn’t increase the length of the sentence, but the attractive women got special treatment. For the most part, when the crime was burglary, the more attractive woman got off easy. If it was a more severe crime, it almost hurt her. If a woman seemed to use their looks to help them commit a crime, their beauty will testify against them in court.
It is amazing how much physical attractiveness plays in our life. No matter whom someone asks, physical attractiveness is a key characteristic when finding a significant other. It is sad that we started to judge people at such a young age.
The power of physical attractiveness is shown by studies of couples on blind dates. Psychologist Elaine Walster and her colleagues paired students on a random basis, but the man always being taller than the woman. Before they met, each of the pair was rated for attractiveness and also assessed on intelligence, personality, and social skills. After attending a dance together, they were asked how much they liked their partners and whether or not they wanted to see them again. Studies showed that they student’s interest in his/her date depended solely upon the date’s attractiveness. Personality, intelligence, and social skills played no part. The only thing that mattered for both genders was looks.
Researchers at the Universities of Minnesota and Wisconsin gave a large group of men and women a series of photographs and they were asked to gauge the personality traits of the people in the pictures. The more attractive people were thought to be kinder, stronger, more interesting, poised, modest, sociable, outgoing and sexier than unattractive people. The more attractive people were expected to get more prestigious jobs, more good husbands/wives, and have happy marriages.
The advantages of being attractive start early. Psychologists Karen Dion and Ellen Berscheid went to a nursery school and asked children between the ages of four and six to name classmates they liked best. They had said that they good-looking children were the children they liked best. They also thought the homely kids were aggressive and unfriendly.
Another study that was done for when children were younger, is Margaret Clifford and Elaine Walster showed report cards to 400 teachers and asked them to evaluate the children. Sometimes attached to the card was a picture of the student. If the student was more attractive the teacher thought that they had a higher IQ and that they parents were interested in their education. They also thought they got along better with their peers. This showed that the teachers share children’s prejudices.
Not only is prejudice of beauty showed in school, but it is even showed in the courts, where justice is supposed to be blind. Harold Sigall and Nancy Ostrove asked students at the University of Maryland to read the account of a crime and then suggest an appropriate punishment for the offender. Sometimes the guilty woman was depicted in a picture. Other times they wouldn’t know what they offender looked like. The lack of beauty didn’t increase the length of the sentence, but the attractive women got special treatment. For the most part, when the crime was burglary, the more attractive woman got off easy. If it was a more severe crime, it almost hurt her. If a woman seemed to use their looks to help them commit a crime, their beauty will testify against them in court.
It is amazing how much physical attractiveness plays in our life. No matter whom someone asks, physical attractiveness is a key characteristic when finding a significant other. It is sad that we started to judge people at such a young age.