What Is Beautiful Is Good Because What Is Beautiful Is Desired: Physical Attractiveness Stereotyping as Projection of Interpersonal Goals

Edward P. Lemay · Margaret S. Clark

203 citations0/0 files storedPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin

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Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior Social and Intergroup Psychology Attachment and Relationship Dynamics

Abstract

The authors posit that the attribution of desirable interpersonal qualities to physically attractive targets is a projection of interpersonal goals; people desire to form and maintain close social bonds with attractive targets and then project these motivations onto those targets. Three studies support this model. Tendencies to see attractive novel targets depicted in photographs (Study 1), attractive romantic partners (Study 2), and attractive friends (Study 3) as especially interpersonally receptive and responsive were explained by perceivers' heightened desires to bond with attractive individuals. Additional findings regarding response latencies (Study 1) also supported this model. Many instances of the "beautiful is good" effect may not reflect stereotyping as it is typically construed. Rather, they may reflect projection of heightened desires to bond with beautiful people.

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References

1980Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences.1972What is beautiful is good.1990A Continuum of Impression Formation, from Category-Based to Individuating Processes: Influences of Information and Motivation on Attention and Interpretation 1985Trust in close relationships.2000Maxims or myths of beauty? A meta-analytic and theoretical review.1998The Investment Model Scale: Measuring commitment level, satisfaction level, quality of alternatives, and investment size 2001Evolutionary origins of stigmatization: The functions of social exclusion.1990Attractive Faces Are Only Average

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