The true nature of attraction

Beautiful people…it’s a phrase that we all instinctively relate to. Immediately you think of people who are beautiful and attractive you form an image of not only how the person looks but of the type of person that they are and the values that they hold. It is an unconscious process but is it an accurate one? That is what was investigated in a new study which sought to establish what we think attractive people and how that relates to their true nature.

For the study subjects were divided into two groups; “targets” and “judges”. The “targets” completed surveys to establish their personal values and personality traits and then were videotaped entering a room, walking around, looking at the camera, reading a weather forecast, and then leaving the room.

Each judge saw a videotape of a different target and evaluated the target’s attractiveness, physical attributes, likely personal traits, and likely values.

The results showed that women rated as attractive were perceived as having more socially desirable personality traits including extraversion, openness to experience, and conscientiousness. Attractive women were also perceived as being more likely to value achievement.

When the researchers looked at targets self-reported values and their results on personality questionnaires however, there was a disconnect between reality and perception by observers.

There was no connection between judges’ ratings of attractiveness and actual personality traits. There was however, a correlation in terms of values but it was not that attractive women valued achievement as the judges estimated. In reality the women rated as attractive were more likely to value conformity, submission to social expectations, and self-promotion.

Stereotypes of any form, positive or negative, are odious and any two attractive people will of course have individual differences but this study points to some interesting general discrepancies between the stereotypes that we hold and the reality of things. This kind of research highlights the fact that stereoptypical thinking is limited, convenient thinking and if you want the truth then you’d better be prepared to go beyond simplistic prototypes. If truth means little to you then by all means, think in stereotypes. You won’t be alone, there is an entire body politic there to keep you company.