Stereotypes Of Beauty Research Paper

In people’s perspective, attractiveness possess a wide variety of positive personal qualities compared to unattractive people. Result from the study on physical attractiveness stereotypes show the attractive people had the most positive ratings. For example, they are judged as less disturbed, rated as happier and more successful, and more likely to be hired after a job interview. Thus, the concept of attractiveness having a correlation between an individual’s physical appearance and his/her achievements, abilities, psychological well-being and/or other status characteristics to create a perception is

As I was reading The Beauty Bias, by Deborah L. Rhodes, I came across a statistic that perplexed me, saying the total “annual global investment in grooming” comes to $115 billion (Rhodes, pg. 32). This shocking fact provokes a worrisome question: Why do we, humans, spend so much time, money, and thought on our appearance? As a complex question, there are several equally complex answers. However, the simple answer is that everyone else invests their time and thought into your outer shell, eliciting effort from you to improve what they study - your external image. The concern placed on one’s fashion choice or natural features by society takes away from larger, more pressing issues such as the declining economy, or feeding third-world countries.

The self-conscious of many people keep them aware of how one’s body image may look. What society today presents as beautiful, may have its effects on a persons self-esteem. Even though seeing oneself as attractive may give that person the self-pride he or she is seeking; seeing oneself as appealing gives that individual that boost of self-confidence. How different persons feel about their self-conscious, influences many factors one may experience in life. Being handsome or beautiful means, one may be taken seriously, one may have a more sense of validation in society and seeing oneself attractive may give them more opportunities in life.

Many begin the day by arranging their hair, finding clothes to wear, or any other daily habit that may alter one’s image. We can thank social pressure for this everyday burden. In the late nineteen-hundred’s, people, especially women, had to obsess over their looks and constantly improve upon them. Thankfully, in today’s communities, those features are not judged upon as much as four decades ago.

Looks are believe it or not relatively important in choosing mates. This can explain the growing number of plastic surgeons in the U.S. today, with women and men now paying big bucks to meet societies standards of physically attractive or appealing. The matching phenomenon explains that both men and women often go for someone who they think attractiveness matches their own. In couples that one is noticeably more physically attractive than the other, it explains that the other person must then have qualities to make up for that particular aspect. For example Hugh Hefner being married to a woman who is 29-years-old, his money and tangible assets make up for his physical attractiveness. Also when it comes to physical attractiveness it is presumed that people we find physical attractive also posses other likeable qualities and traits (physical-attractiveness

The two applicants will vary in attractiveness. Attractiveness will be determined by the “averageness” of a face; the more attractive face will be a compilation of the average of various facial features common to the Anglo-Saxon genetic disposition. Studies of compilations of average facial traits show that we have a biological preference for the average phenotype because we believe it indicates evolutionary resilient, fertile genotypes (Langlois, Roggman, 1990.) The other profile will be composed of a person with facial features that deviate from the average (example: wide-set eyes, etc.) and as a result are found less attractive.

The philosopher Edmund Burke said, “Beauty is, for the greater part, some qualities in bodies, acting mechanically upon the human mind by the intervention of the senses.” (Burke, On Taste. The Harvard Classics. pg. 96). Just like no two people will perceive the color red as the same shade, no two minds will solely recognize the magnitude of beauty as the same. The impact of ones’ culture and media influence combined with the brain’s neuroscientific perspective, beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. There is plenty to be explored to what people find beautiful and to the extent they find beauty in themselves and others.

There is a young girl, right now, staring in a mirror in a New York shopping mall observing her expanding waist. There is a girl, right now, forcing herself to run an extra mile so she can eat her favourite cheesecake tonight. There is a girl, right now, lying helplessly on an operating table about to go under the knife. There is a girl, at this very moment, wishing she was the beautiful Heidi Klum prancing down the runway of a Hollywood fashion show.

Physical attractiveness can arguably be one of the biggest influential factor contributing to likability. The advantages of being good-looking are underestimated as one never admits to being influenced by someone’s’ looks. Cialdini (2007) states that an attractive individual can be seen to have favourable traits such as intelligence, honesty, kindness and talent. As humans, most of us immediately take a liking to anyone that looks appealing; as ‘good-looking’ is subconsciously associated to ‘good’ (Dion, Berscheid, & Walster, 1972). This is caused due to the halo affect where one positive characteristic of an individual determines the way others view and interact with them (Nisbett, & Wilson, 1977). Cialdini’s associative principle plays a vital role here as well, as physical attractiveness is often stereotyped to such characteristics. Le Pelley et al. (2010) showed that participants stereotyped groups into categories based on their looks. This shows that attractiveness and association goes hand in hand allowing both positive and negative influences on likability. Association goes as far as stereotyping entire populations such as a race or religion which may or may not be seen as likable. In terms of physical attractiveness, someone wearing a hoddie and trousers may be directly associated to a defiant individual, thus unlikable. Whereas someone smartly dress is associated as friendly and kind.

As the conclusion of this study, it is obvious that people doesn’t just base how they look at attractiveness and beauty on physical

How we feel about ourselves and what we perceive as beautiful is based on how we

Aristotle once said, “Personal beauty is greater recommendation than any letter of reference.” One of the greatest philosophers recognized the importance of physical attractiveness. Although Aristotle recognized the importance of physical beauty in 300 BC, appearance is still of great significance in today’s culture. Americans idolize beauty because, over the decades, men and women have learned to use their appearance for personal advantage. As a result, the pursuit for a perfect face and a body to match has created a 160-billion-dollar global industry (Patzer 112). The extreme emphasis placed on one’s physical appearance has caused eating disorders, self-esteem issues, and a plastic surgery craze in America.

Since a young age, it is instilled in females that we should take the time, effort, energy, and money into achieving what is considered “beautiful”.

What is beauty? How do we decide who is attractive and who is not? Society is full of information telling us what is beautiful, but what fact is that information based on? The topic of beauty has been studied, analyzed and controversial for centuries. We all know the feeling you can have when you hear a beautiful song that brings joy to your heart, stand in a field of flowers that excites your eyes, or admire a face that is visually pleasing. As human beings, we are all drawn to beauty, but what is it that makes something beautiful? The controversial issue that surrounds beauty is that some believe that true beauty is defined by someone’s outer appearance, while others believe it is something that is experienced through a person’s

There is this idea that beauty sells, however, people have found a loophole in this theory. In a study conducted in 2006, evidence suggested that “The unbecoming… profit from their lack of looks [because] people… expect less from the unattractive, so when they surpass those low expectations they are rewarded” (Tucker). Society holds attractive people to a higher standard. People expect them to have superior qualities and outperform less attractive people. However, when attractive people fail to meet the standards society has set for them, they are labeled as a disappointment. Because standards for attractive people are set lower, it allows them to achieve success easier, eventually resulting in higher pay or promotions. Although appearance for certain people may not affect them in the workplace, that is not deemed true for everyone. For