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Maheshwari B. Discrimination Based on Physical Attractiveness: Causes and Consequences A Critical Perspective. Psychol Rep 2022:332941221149174. [PMID: 36565061 DOI: 10.1177/00332941221149174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The consequences of physical attractiveness (PA) are ubiquitous, however not often become a topic of discussion. The consequences, in general, are attributed to preference or discrimination without much deliberation. There is a very thin line between the two. The study makes an attempt to distinguish between preference and discrimination based on PA. In an organizational context, this distinction seems warranted since PA does impact work-related outcomes. The distinction was addressed by examining published studies between 1970 and 2021 on PA in the management and economics field of research. The study highlights when and how preference turns into discrimination and furthers discusses the causes of such discrimination. The causes are equivalent to antecedents; the antecedent to being physically attractive is mostly genes. The antecedents to the discrimination are the attributions that we have associated with being physically attractive. The study highlights these attributions and the reasons for these attributions. To completely understand a phenomenon, it is essential to understand what causes it. Therefore, this study tries to understand what causes discrimination based on PA. The study has implications for diversity and inclusion literature and practice. It also adds to the literature on PA.
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Franklin-Luther P. How Do Adults’ Personality Traits Influence Perceptions and Responses to Infant Faces? EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s40806-020-00248-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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Dydynski JM. Modeling Cuteness: Moving towards a Biosemiotic Model for Understanding the Perception of Cuteness and Kindchenschema. BIOSEMIOTICS 2020; 13:223-240. [DOI: 10.1007/s12304-020-09386-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2020] [Accepted: 05/28/2020] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
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Holly R, Christine EP, Katherine SY, Goodacre TE, Kringelbach ML, Bonaiuto JJ, Mcsorley E, Murray L. Effects of Infant Cleft Lip on Adult Gaze and Perceptions of “Cuteness”. Cleft Palate Craniofac J 2017; 54:562-570. [DOI: 10.1597/16-015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective: Early mother-infant interactions are impaired in the context of infant cleft lip and are associated with adverse child psychological outcomes, but the nature of these interaction difficulties is not yet fully understood. The aim of this study was to explore adult gaze behavior and cuteness perception, which are particularly important during early social exchanges, in response to infants with cleft lip, in order to investigate potential foundations for the interaction difficulties seen in this population. Methods: Using an eye tracker, eye movements were recorded as adult participants viewed images of infant faces with and without cleft lip. Participants also rated each infant on a scale of cuteness. Results: Participants fixated significantly longer on the mouths of infants with cleft lip, which occurred at the expense of fixation on eyes. Severity of cleft lip was associated with the strength of fixation bias, with participants looking even longer at the mouths of infants with the most severe clefts. Infants with cleft lip were rated as significantly less cute than unaffected infants. Men rated infants as less cute than women overall but gave particularly low ratings to infants with cleft lip. Conclusions: Results demonstrate that the limited disturbance in infant facial configuration of cleft lip can significantly alter adult gaze patterns and cuteness perception. Our findings could have important implications for early interactions and may help in the development of interventions to foster healthy development in infants with cleft lip.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rayson Holly
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
| | - E. Parsons Christine
- Centre of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark, and Center for Music in the Brain, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, and Oxford Centre of Human Brain Activity (OHBA), Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - S. Young Katherine
- Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. Mr. Goodacre is Consultant Plastic & Cleft Surgeon, Spires Cleft Centre, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Timothy E.E. Goodacre
- Centre of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark, and Center for Music in the Brain, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, and Oxford Centre of Human Brain Activity (OHBA), Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Morten L. Kringelbach
- Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - James J. Bonaiuto
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
| | - Eugene Mcsorley
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom, Department of Psychology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
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The impact of facial abnormalities and their spatial position on perception of cuteness and attractiveness of infant faces. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0180499. [PMID: 28749958 PMCID: PMC5531456 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2016] [Accepted: 06/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Research has demonstrated that how “cute” an infant is perceived to be has consequences for caregiving. Infants with facial abnormalities receive lower ratings of cuteness, but relatively little is known about how different abnormalities and their location affect these aesthetic judgements. The objective of the current study was to compare the impact of different abnormalities on the perception of infant faces, while controlling for infant identity. In two experiments, adult participants gave ratings of cuteness and attractiveness in response to face images that had been edited to introduce common facial abnormalities. Stimulus faces displayed either a haemangioma (a small, benign birth mark), strabismus (an abnormal alignment of the eyes) or a cleft lip (an abnormal opening in the upper lip). In Experiment 1, haemangioma had less of a detrimental effect on ratings than the more severe abnormalities. In Experiment 2, we manipulated the position of a haemangioma on the face. We found small but robust effects of this position, with abnormalities in the top and on the left of the face receiving lower cuteness ratings. This is consistent with previous research showing that people attend more to the top of the face (particularly the eyes) and to the left hemifield.
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Laypersons' ratings of appearance in children with and without single-suture craniosynostosis. J Craniofac Surg 2015; 24:1331-5. [PMID: 23851801 DOI: 10.1097/scs.0b013e3182997885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Single-suture craniosynostosis (SSC) results in head shape anomalies that likely affect social perceptions of appearance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate laypersons' ratings of attractiveness in children with and without SSC. Among cases, we also examined differences by suture fused and age at surgery. METHODS We collected photographs of 196 children with SSC and 186 children without SSC as infants (before surgery, for cases) and at ages 18 and 36 months. Photographs were rated by 8 raters, who were blinded to the population being studied. We used linear regression to compare appearance ratings for the 2 groups at each visit and to evaluate changes over time. Regression analyses were used to examine the association between age at surgery and appearance ratings. RESULTS Children with SSC received lower appearance ratings than unaffected controls at each visit (all P < 0.001). Appearance ratings decreased over time, with a similar trajectory for children with and without SSC. Among cases, those with unicoronal and lambdoid synostosis had the lowest ratings and those with sagittal synostosis had the highest. Age at surgery was inversely associated with appearance ratings. CONCLUSIONS Children with SSC received lower appearance ratings than unaffected controls, with minimal change after surgery. Better outcomes were associated with earlier surgery. These findings do not indicate that children with SSC failed to benefit from surgery, as without surgical intervention, asymmetrical head shape would likely have worsened over time. However, our data suggest that appearance does not fully "normalize."
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Harrison MA, Shortall JC, Dispenza F, Gallup GG. You must have been a beautiful baby: ratings of infant facial attractiveness fail to predict ratings of adult attractiveness. Infant Behav Dev 2011; 34:610-6. [PMID: 21794922 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2011.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2010] [Revised: 05/03/2011] [Accepted: 06/23/2011] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Facial attractiveness has been studied extensively, but little research has examined the stability of facial attractiveness of individuals across different stages of development. We conducted a study examining the relationship between facial attractiveness in infants (age 24 months and under) and the same individuals as young adults (age 16-18 years) using infant and adult photographs from high school yearbooks. Contrary to expectations, independent raters' assessments of infant facial attractiveness did not correlate with adult facial attractiveness. These results are discussed in terms of the adaptive function of heightened attractiveness in infancy, which likely evolved to elicit and maintain parental care.
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Parsons CE, Young KS, Kumari N, Stein A, Kringelbach ML. The motivational salience of infant faces is similar for men and women. PLoS One 2011; 6:e20632. [PMID: 21655195 PMCID: PMC3105111 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2011] [Accepted: 05/05/2011] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Infant facial features are thought to be powerful elicitors of caregiving behaviour. It has been widely assumed that men and women respond in different ways to those features, such as a large forehead and eyes and round protruding cheeks, colloquially described as 'cute'. We investigated experimentally potential differences using measures of both conscious appraisal ('liking') and behavioural responsivity ('wanting') to real world infant and adult faces in 71 non-parents. Overall, women gave significantly higher 'liking' ratings for infant faces (but not adult faces) compared to men. However, this difference was not seen in the 'wanting' task, where we measured the willingness of men and women to key-press to increase or decrease viewing duration of an infant face. Further analysis of sensitivity to cuteness, categorising infants by degree of infantile features, revealed that both men and women showed a graded significant increase in both positive attractiveness ratings and viewing times to the 'cutest' infants. We suggest that infant faces may have similar motivational salience to men and women, despite gender idiosyncrasies in their conscious appraisal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine E. Parsons
- University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United
Kingdom
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University,
Aahrus, Denmark
| | - Katherine S. Young
- University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United
Kingdom
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University,
Aahrus, Denmark
| | - Nina Kumari
- University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United
Kingdom
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University,
Aahrus, Denmark
| | - Alan Stein
- University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United
Kingdom
| | - Morten L. Kringelbach
- University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United
Kingdom
- Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University,
Aahrus, Denmark
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Glocker ML, Langleben DD, Ruparel K, Loughead JW, Gur RC, Sachser N. Baby Schema in Infant Faces Induces Cuteness Perception and Motivation for Caretaking in Adults. Ethology 2009; 115:257-263. [PMID: 22267884 DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0310.2008.01603.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 224] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Ethologist Konrad Lorenz proposed that baby schema ('Kindchenschema') is a set of infantile physical features such as the large head, round face and big eyes that is perceived as cute and motivates caretaking behavior in other individuals, with the evolutionary function of enhancing offspring survival. Previous work on this fundamental concept was restricted to schematic baby representations or correlative approaches. Here, we experimentally tested the effects of baby schema on the perception of cuteness and the motivation for caretaking using photographs of infant faces. Employing quantitative techniques, we parametrically manipulated the baby schema content to produce infant faces with high (e.g. round face and high forehead), and low (e. g. narrow face and low forehead) baby schema features that retained all the characteristics of a photographic portrait. Undergraduate students (n = 122) rated these infants' cuteness and their motivation to take care of them. The high baby schema infants were rated as more cute and elicited stronger motivation for caretaking than the unmanipulated and the low baby schema infants. This is the first experimental proof of the baby schema effects in actual infant faces. Our findings indicate that the baby schema response is a critical function of human social cognition that may be the basis of caregiving and have implications for infant-caretaker interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie L Glocker
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Facial attractiveness: Variation, adaptiveness and consequences of facial preferences. ANTHROPOLOGICAL REVIEW 2008. [DOI: 10.2478/v10044-008-0012-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Facial attractiveness: Variation, adaptiveness and consequences of facial preferencesThis review embraces the following topics: intra- and inter-populational variation of facial preferences, relationship between facial attractiveness and mate value, biological and social effects of the perception of facial attractiveness, credibility of the adaptive perspective on facial preferences, and the phylogeny of facial attractiveness. Its main conclusions are as follows: (1) Many sources of inter-individual variation in assessments of facial attractiveness have been identified, e.g., the age, sex, biological quality, physiological state, personality, and living situation of the judge, as well as previously observed faces, physical similarity of the focal face to the judge's face, and acquaintance with and knowledge of the face owner. (2) Inter-populational consistency in perception of facial attractiveness is substantial and possesses both a biological and a cultural basis. (3) Facial attractiveness is a reliable cue to biological quality of the face owner, e.g., better parasite resistance, physical fitness, reproductive fitness, longevity, less mutational load, higher intelligence and better mental health. (4) Facially attractive people have more sexual partners, marry at a younger age, and remain single less frequently. Thereby, they have higher reproductive success than unattractive individuals. (5) As a whole, research supports the thesis that facial preferences are adaptive, that is, they evolved during the course of biological evolution because they assisted an individual in choosing a mate with good genes or a good personality.
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Waller KL, Volk A, Quinsey VL. The effect of infant fetal alcohol syndrome facial features on adoption preference. HUMAN NATURE-AN INTERDISCIPLINARY BIOSOCIAL PERSPECTIVE 2004; 15:101-17. [DOI: 10.1007/s12110-004-1006-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2003] [Revised: 07/18/2003] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Rogers CM, Ritter JM. The Power of Perception: Children's Appearance as a Factor in Adults' Predictions of Gender-typical Behavior. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 2002. [DOI: 10.1111/1467-9507.00207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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