1
|
Paruzel-Czachura M, Workman CI, El Toukhy N, Chatterjee A. First impressions: Do faces with scars and palsies influence warmth, competence and humanization? Br J Psychol 2024. [PMID: 38963684 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/05/2024]
Abstract
A glance is enough to assign psychological attributes to others. Attractiveness is associated with positive attributes ('beauty-is-good' stereotype). Here, we raise the question of a similar but negative bias. Are people with facial anomalies associated with negative personal characteristics? We hypothesized that biases against faces with anomalies arise because of negative stereotypes (less warmth and competence) and forms of dehumanization (animalistic and mechanistic). We enrolled 1493 mTurk participants (N = 1306 after exclusion) to assess 31 traits of photographed people using 60 pairs of photographs of the same person before and after plastic surgery. Half anomalous faces had a scar and the other half had a palsy. To calculate warmth and competence, we conducted a principal components analysis of the 31 attributes. Animalistic dehumanization was assessed by averaging reverse-scored ratings corresponding to moral sensibility and rationality/logic, and mechanistic dehumanization by averaging across reverse-scored ratings corresponding to emotional responsiveness and interpersonal warmth. We found that both kinds of anomalous faces were seen as less warm, competent and were dehumanized. Our findings suggest that an 'anomalous-is-bad' stereotype generalizes regardless of the aetiology of the anomaly. This effect may be related to a reverse halo effect, that is, the horn effect.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mariola Paruzel-Czachura
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Penn Brain Science Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Institute of Psychology, University of Silesia in Katowice, Katowice, Poland
| | - Clifford I Workman
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, New Jersey, USA
| | - Noha El Toukhy
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Penn Brain Science Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Anjan Chatterjee
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Penn Brain Science Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Leger K, Dong J, DeBruine LM, Jones BC, Shiramizu VKM. Assessing the roles of shape prototypicality and sexual dimorphism in ratings of the trustworthiness of faces. Sci Rep 2023; 13:15662. [PMID: 37731069 PMCID: PMC10511419 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42990-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2023] [Accepted: 09/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Perceptions of the trustworthiness of faces predict important social outcomes, including economic exchange and criminal sentencing decisions. However, the specific facial characteristics that drive trustworthiness perceptions remain poorly understood. Here we investigated this issue by exploring possible relationships between ratings of the trustworthiness of face images and objective assessments of two aspects of face shape that researchers have previously argued are important for perceptions of trustworthiness: distinctiveness and sexual dimorphism. Here we report that faces with more distinctive shapes are rated as less trustworthy, but that sexual dimorphism of face shape is not significantly correlated with trustworthiness ratings. These results suggest that distinctiveness of face shape plays a more important role in trustworthiness perceptions than does sexual dimorphism and suggest that perceptions of trustworthiness may stem, at least in part, from the 'anomalous-is-bad' stereotype.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kathlyne Leger
- School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
| | - Junzhi Dong
- School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
| | - Lisa M DeBruine
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | - Benedict C Jones
- School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
| | - Victor K M Shiramizu
- School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Villavisanis DF, Workman CI, Zapatero ZD, Vu GH, Humphries SA, Blum JD, Cho DY, Swanson JW, Bartlett SP, Chatterjee A, Taylor JA. Visual Attention, Bias, and Social Dispositions Toward People With Facial Anomalies: A Prospective Study With Eye-Tracking Technology. Ann Plast Surg 2023; 90:482-486. [PMID: 37146314 DOI: 10.1097/sap.0000000000003435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Facial attractiveness influences our perceptions of others, with beautiful faces reaping societal rewards and anomalous faces encountering penalties. The purpose of this study was to determine associations of visual attention with bias and social dispositions toward people with facial anomalies. METHODS Sixty subjects completed tests evaluating implicit bias, explicit bias, and social dispositions before viewing publicly available images of preoperative and postoperative patients with hemifacial microsomia. Eye-tracking was used to register visual fixations. RESULTS Participants with higher implicit bias scores fixated significantly less on the cheek and ear region preoperatively (P = 0.004). Participants with higher scores in empathic concern and perspective taking fixated more on the forehead and orbit preoperatively (P = 0.045) and nose and lips (P = 0.027) preoperativel. CONCLUSIONS Participants with higher levels of implicit bias spent less visual attention on anomalous facial anatomy, whereas participants with higher levels of empathic concern and perspective taking spent more visual attention on normal facial anatomy. Levels of bias and social dispositions such as empathy may predict layperson gaze patterns toward those with facial anomalies and provide insights to neural mechanisms underlying the "anomalous is bad" paradigm.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Clifford I Workman
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | | | | | - Stacey A Humphries
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Jessica D Blum
- From the Division of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Oral Surgery, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
| | - Daniel Y Cho
- From the Division of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Oral Surgery, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
| | - Jordan W Swanson
- From the Division of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Oral Surgery, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
| | - Scott P Bartlett
- From the Division of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Oral Surgery, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
| | - Anjan Chatterjee
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Jesse A Taylor
- From the Division of Plastic, Reconstructive, and Oral Surgery, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Neuroaesthetics in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: Opportunities for Interdisciplinary Collaboration. Plast Reconstr Surg 2023; 151:357e-358e. [PMID: 36696349 DOI: 10.1097/prs.0000000000009880] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
|
5
|
Rasset P, Mange J, Montalan B, Stutterheim SE. Towards a better understanding of the social stigma of facial difference. Body Image 2022; 43:450-462. [PMID: 36345083 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Revised: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 10/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Facial difference (FD) is not only an individual experience; it is inherently social, reflecting interactions between social norms and individual attitudes. Often FD is stigmatized. In this paper, we employ a widely used stigma framework, namely the social stigma framework put forth by Pryor and Reeder (2011), to unpack the stigma of FD. This framework posits that there are four forms of stigma: public stigma, self-stigma, stigma by association, and structural stigma. We first discuss the social and psychological literature on FD as it pertains to these various forms of stigma. We then describe coping approaches for FD stigma. Lastly, we delineate evidence-based methods for addressing the various forms of FD stigma, such that future efforts can more effectively tackle the stigma of facial difference.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pauline Rasset
- Laboratoire de Psychologie de Caen Normandie (LPCN EA 7452), Université de Caen Normandie, France.
| | - Jessica Mange
- Laboratoire de Psychologie de Caen Normandie (LPCN EA 7452), Université de Caen Normandie, France
| | - Benoît Montalan
- Centre de Recherche sur les Fonctionnements et Dysfonctionnements Psychologiques (CRFDP EA 7475), Université de Rouen Normandie, France
| | - Sarah E Stutterheim
- Department of Health Promotion, Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Sarwer DB, Siminoff LA, Gardiner HM, Spitzer JC. The psychosocial burden of visible disfigurement following traumatic injury. Front Psychol 2022; 13:979574. [PMID: 36110275 PMCID: PMC9468754 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.979574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Hundreds of thousands of individuals experience traumatic injuries each year. Some are mild to moderate in nature and patients experience full functional recovery and little change to their physical appearance. Others result in enduring, if not permanent, changes in physical functioning and appearance. Reconstructive plastic surgical procedures are viable treatments options for many patients who have experienced the spectrum of traumatic injuries. The goal of these procedures is to restore physical functioning and reduce the psychosocial burden of living with an appearance that may be viewed negatively by the patient or by others. Even after receipt of reconstructive procedures, many patients are left with residual disfigurement. In some, disability and disfigurement may be so profound that individuals are candidates for vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) procedures, i.e., the transplantation of a vascularized human body part containing multiple tissue types (skin, muscle, bone, nerves, and blood vessels) as an anatomical and/or structural unit. This narrative review paper summarizes the literature on the psychosocial burden experienced by those who have visible disfigurement. While many of these individuals experience stigma and discrimination, relatively few studies have employed a stigma framework to understand the psychosocial sequelea. This paper briefly addresses this framework. Last, particular focus is given to the psychosocial issues of individuals with particularly severe injuries who are potential candidates for VCA procedures.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David B. Sarwer
- Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- *Correspondence: David B. Sarwer,
| | - Laura A. Siminoff
- Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Heather M. Gardiner
- Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | | |
Collapse
|
7
|
It is All Relative: Associations of Facial Proportionality, Attractiveness, and Character Traits. J Craniofac Surg 2022; 33:1431-1435. [PMID: 35758512 DOI: 10.1097/scs.0000000000008662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2022] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Facial proportionality and symmetry are positively associated with perceived levels of facial attractiveness. OBJECTIVE The aims of this study were to confirm and extend the association of proportionality with perceived levels of attractiveness and character traits and determine differences in attractiveness and character ratings between "anomalous" and "typical" faces using a large dataset. METHODS Ratings of 597 unique individuals from the Chicago Face Database were used. A formula was developed as a proxy of relative horizontal proportionality, where a proportionality score of "0" indicated perfect proportionality and more negative scores indicated less proportionality. Faces were categorized as "anomalous" or "typical" by 2 independent reviewers based on physical features. RESULTS Across the ratings for all faces, Spearman correlations revealed greater proportionality was associated with attractiveness (ρ = 0.292, P < 0.001) and trustworthiness (ρ = 0.193, P < 0.001), while lesser proportionality was associated with impressions of anger (ρ = 0.132, P = 0.001), dominance (ρ = 0.259, P < 0.001), and threateningness (ρ = 0.234, P < 0.001). Mann-Whitney U tests revealed the typical cohort had significantly higher levels of proportionality (-13.98 versus -15.14, P = 0.030) and ratings of attractiveness (3.39 versus 2.99, P < 0.001) and trustworthiness (3.48 versus 3.35, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that facial proportionality is not only significantly associated with higher ratings of attractiveness, but also associated with judgements of trustworthiness. Proportionality plays a role in evoking negative attributions of personality characteristics to people with facial anomalies.
Collapse
|
8
|
Workman CI, Smith KM, Apicella CL, Chatterjee A. Evidence against the "anomalous-is-bad" stereotype in Hadza hunter gatherers. Sci Rep 2022; 12:8693. [PMID: 35610269 PMCID: PMC9130266 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12440-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
People have an "anomalous-is-bad" stereotype whereby they make negative inferences about the moral character of people with craniofacial anomalies like scars. This stereotype is hypothesized to be a byproduct of adaptations for avoiding pathogens. However, evidence for the anomalous-is-bad stereotype comes from studies of European and North American populations; the byproduct hypothesis would predict universality of the stereotype. We presented 123 Hadza across ten camps pairs of morphed Hadza faces-each with one face altered to include a scar-and asked who they expected to be more moral and a better forager. Hadza with minimal exposure to other cultures chose at chance for both questions. Hadza with greater exposure to other cultures, however, expected the scarred face to be less moral and a better forager. These results suggest the anomalous-is-bad stereotype may be culturally shared or learned erroneously through associations with population-level differences, providing evidence against a universal pathogen avoidance byproduct hypothesis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Clifford I Workman
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
- Penn Brain Science Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
| | - Kristopher M Smith
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99163, USA.
| | - Coren L Apicella
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Anjan Chatterjee
- Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Penn Brain Science Center, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Look me in the eyes! A pre-registered eye-tracking study investigating visual attention and affective reactions to faces with a visible difference. Body Image 2022; 40:67-77. [PMID: 34864605 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.10.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2021] [Revised: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 10/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
This research aims to determine how disfigurement alters visual attention paid to faces and to examine whether such a potential modified pattern of visual attention to faces with visible difference was associated, in turn, with perceiver's stigmatizing affective reactions. A pilot study (N = 38) and a pre-registered experimental eye-tracking study (N = 89) were conducted. First, the visual explorations of faces with and without disfigurement were compared. The association of these visual explorations with affective reactions were investigated next. Findings suggest that disfigurement impacts visual attention toward faces; attention is not merely attracted to the disfigured area but it is also diverted particularly from the eye area. Disfigurement also eases disgust-related, surprise-related, anxiety-related, and, to a lesser extent, hostility-related affective states. Exploratory interaction effects between attention to the eyes and to the disfigured part of the face revealed a hybrid effect on disgust-related affect and an increase in surprise-related affect when participants fixated more upon the disfigured area and fixated less upon the eyes. Thus, perceiver's attention is captured by disfigurement and also diverted from face internal features which seems to play a role in the affective reactions elicited.
Collapse
|
10
|
Hartung F, Wang Y, Mak M, Willems R, Chatterjee A. Aesthetic appraisals of literary style and emotional intensity in narrative engagement are neurally dissociable. Commun Biol 2021; 4:1401. [PMID: 34916583 PMCID: PMC8677754 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02926-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2020] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans are deeply affected by stories, yet it is unclear how. In this study, we explored two aspects of aesthetic experiences during narrative engagement - literariness and narrative fluctuations in appraised emotional intensity. Independent ratings of literariness and emotional intensity of two literary stories were used to predict blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal changes in 52 listeners from an existing fMRI dataset. Literariness was associated with increased activation in brain areas linked to semantic integration (left angular gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and precuneus), and decreased activation in bilateral middle temporal cortices, associated with semantic representations and word memory. Emotional intensity correlated with decreased activation in a bilateral frontoparietal network that is often associated with controlled attention. Our results confirm a neural dissociation in processing literary form and emotional content in stories and generate new questions about the function of and interaction between attention, social cognition, and semantic systems during literary engagement and aesthetic experiences.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Franziska Hartung
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. .,School of Psychology, Newcastle University, 4th Floor Dame Margaret Barbour Building Wallace Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4DR, UK.
| | - Yuchao Wang
- grid.25879.310000 0004 1936 8972Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA ,grid.256868.70000 0001 2215 7365Haverford College, Haverford, PA USA
| | - Marloes Mak
- grid.5590.90000000122931605Center for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Roel Willems
- grid.5590.90000000122931605Center for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands ,grid.5590.90000000122931605Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Anjan Chatterjee
- grid.25879.310000 0004 1936 8972Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA USA
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
He D, Workman CI, Kenett YN, He X, Chatterjee A. The effect of aging on facial attractiveness: An empirical and computational investigation. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2021; 219:103385. [PMID: 34455180 PMCID: PMC8438792 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 07/25/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
How does aging affect facial attractiveness? We tested the hypothesis that people find older faces less attractive than younger faces, and furthermore, that these aging effects are modulated by the age and sex of the perceiver and by the specific kind of attractiveness judgment being made. Using empirical and computational network science methods, we confirmed that with increasing age, faces are perceived as less attractive. This effect was less pronounced in judgments made by older than younger and middle-aged perceivers, and more pronounced by men (especially for female faces) than women. Attractive older faces were perceived as elegant more than beautiful or gorgeous. Furthermore, network analyses revealed that older faces were more similar in attractiveness and were segregated from younger faces. These results indicate that perceivers tend to process older faces categorically when making attractiveness judgments. Attractiveness is not a monolithic construct. It varies by age, sex, and the dimensions of attractiveness being judged.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dexian He
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, China; Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Clifford I Workman
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Yoed N Kenett
- Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel
| | - Xianyou He
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, China.
| | - Anjan Chatterjee
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Kenett YN, Ungar L, Chatterjee A. Beauty and Wellness in the Semantic Memory of the Beholder. Front Psychol 2021; 12:696507. [PMID: 34421747 PMCID: PMC8376150 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.696507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Beauty and wellness are terms used often in common parlance, however their meaning and relation to each other is unclear. To probe their meaning, we applied network science methods to estimate and compare the semantic networks associated with beauty and wellness in different age generation cohorts (Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers) and in women and men. These mappings were achieved by estimating group-based semantic networks from free association responses to a list of 47 words, either related to Beauty, Wellness, or Beauty + Wellness. Beauty was consistently related to Elegance, Feminine, Gorgeous, Lovely, Sexy, and Stylish. Wellness was consistently related Aerobics, Fitness, Health, Holistic, Lifestyle, Medical, Nutrition, and Thrive. In addition, older cohorts had semantic networks that were less connected and more segregated from each other. Finally, we found that women compared to men had more segregated and organized concepts of Beauty and Wellness. In contemporary societies that are pre-occupied by the pursuit of beauty and a healthy lifestyle, our findings shed novel light on how people think about beauty and wellness and how they are related across different age generations and by sex.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yoed N. Kenett
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Faculty of Industrial Engineering & Management, Technion–Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Lyle Ungar
- Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Anjan Chatterjee
- Penn Center for Neuroaesthetics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| |
Collapse
|