| There is much more
consensus among men about whom they find attractive than there is among
women, according to a new study by Wake Forest University psychologist
Dustin Wood. The study, co-authored by Claudia
Brumbaugh of Queens College, appears in the June issue of the Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology.
"Men agree a lot more about who they find attractive
and unattractive than women agree about who they find attractive and
unattractive," says Wood, assistant professor of psychology. "This study
shows we can quantify the extent to which men agree about which women
are attractive and vice versa."
More than 4,000 participants in the study rated
photographs of men and women (ages 18-25) for attractiveness on a
10-point scale ranging from "not at all" to "very." In exchange for
their participation, raters were told what characteristics they found
attractive compared with the average person. The raters ranged in age
from 18 to more than 70.
Before the participants judged the photographs for
attractiveness, the members of the research team rated the images for
how seductive, confident, thin, sensitive, stylish, curvaceous (women),
muscular (men), traditional, masculine/feminine, classy, well-groomed,
or upbeat the people looked.
Breaking out these factors helped the researchers
figure out what common characteristics appealed most to women and men.
Men's judgments of women's attractiveness were based
primarily around physical features and they rated highly those who
looked thin and seductive. Most of the men in the study also rated
photographs of women who looked confident as more attractive.
As a group, the women rating men showed some
preference for thin, muscular subjects, but disagreed on how attractive
many men in the study were. Some women gave high attractiveness ratings
to the men other women said were not attractive at all.
"As far as we know, this is the first study to
investigate whether there are differences in the level of consensus male
and female raters have in their attractiveness judgments," Wood says.
"These differences have implications for the different experiences and
strategies that could be expected for men and women in the dating
marketplace."
For example, women may encounter less competition from
other women for the men they find attractive, he says. Men may need to
invest more time and energy in attracting and then guarding their mates
from other potential suitors, given that the mates they judge attractive
are likely to be found attractive by many other men.
Wood says the study results have implications for
eating disorders and how expectations regarding attractiveness affect
behavior.
"The study helps explain why women experience stronger
norms than men to obtain or maintain certain physical characteristics,"
he says. "Women who are trying to impress men are likely to be found
much more attractive if they meet certain physical standards, and much
less if they don't. Although men are rated as more attractive by women
when they meet these physical appearance standards too, their overall
judged attractiveness isn't as tightly linked to their physical
features."
The age of the participants also played a role in
attractiveness ratings. Older participants were more likely to find
people attractive if they were smiling.
|
