Physical Attractiveness Stereotyping Among Black American College Students

Abstract

Summary Although numerous studies of physical attractiveness stereotyping have been conducted among American whites, little research has explored such processes among blacks. Using a standard person-perception paradigm, the present experiment examined the first impressions that black American college students (24 males and 24 females) expressed towards facial photographs of black males and females representing three levels of physical attractiveness. Consistent with the research on whites, three stereotypes were evident among blacks: At higher levels of attractiveness, stimulus persons were judged to have more socially desirable personalities and greater potential for the future. More attractive women were thought to be more sex-typed. Finally, on the negative side, attractiveness also conveyed a self-centered, “bourgeois” orientation (materialistic, unsympathetic with oppressed people) and conveyed less potential for parental competence and marital stability.

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