Physical attractiveness stereotype

The physical attractiveness stereotype is a tendency, described by psychologists, to assume that people who are physically attractive also possess other socially desirable personality traits. Stereotyping is the process by which we draw inferences about others based on knowledge of the categories to which they belong.

(Dion et al., 1972; Miller, 1970) Studies have found that Western people are more willing to listen to and believe people who are judged, by conventional standards, to be aesthetically attractive.

In less-individualistic cultures, beautiful people are assumed to have traits that those cultures value, such as concern for others, loyalty and integrity. (Dion et al., 1972）Regarding the perception of beauty in the East, Wheeler and Kim (1997) found that university students in Korea saw beautiful people as more trustworthy and concerned for others. But they did not share the North American university students' bias towards perceiving beautiful people as more self-assertive and dominant than less attractive people. This can be seen in myths and fairy tales as well as films throughout history: the 'goodies' are young and beautiful, whereas the 'baddies' are ugly. Previous studies have found a recognition bias for information consistent with the physical attractiveness stereotype (Rohner, J.‐C., 2012).

The stereotype acts as a self-fulfilling prophecy where the perception of attractive people as more valuable members of society leads to their receiving preferential treatment, positive feedback and tangible benefit. Studies have found that attractiveness does correlate positively with some traits such as personal income, social skills and self-confidence. This cognitive bias could be considered to be a specific kind of halo effect.

Physical attractiveness can have a significant effect on how people are judged in terms of employment or social opportunities, friendship, sexual behavior, and marriage. In many cases, humans attribute positive characteristics, such as intelligence and honesty, to attractive people without consciously realizing it. Physically attractive individuals are regarded more positively and accurately in first impressions, however the physical attractiveness stereotype will have bias opinions and decisions when comparing people of different attractiveness levels.

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