TY - JOUR
T1 - Predictors of enhancing human physical attractiveness
T2 - Data from 93 countries
AU - Kowal, Marta
AU - Sorokowski, Piotr
AU - Pisanski, Katarzyna
AU - Valentova, Jaroslava V.
AU - Varella, Marco A.C.
AU - Frederick, David A.
AU - Al-Shawaf, Laith
AU - García, Felipe E.
AU - Giammusso, Isabella
AU - Gjoneska, Biljana
AU - Kozma, Luca
AU - Otterbring, Tobias
AU - Papadatou-Pastou, Marietta
AU - Pfuhl, Gerit
AU - Stöckli, Sabrina
AU - Studzinska, Anna
AU - Toplu-Demirtas, Ezgi
AU - Touloumakos, Anna K.
AU - Bakos, Bence E.
AU - Batres, Carlota
AU - Bonneterre, Solenne
AU - Czamanski-Cohen, Johanna
AU - Dacanay, Jovi C.
AU - Deschrijver, Eliane
AU - Fisher, Maryanne L.
AU - Grano, Caterina
AU - Grigoryev, Dmitry
AU - Kacmár, Pavol
AU - Kozlov, Mikhail V.
AU - Manunta, Efisio
AU - Massar, Karlijn
AU - McFall, Joseph P.
AU - Mebarak, Moises
AU - Miccoli, Maria Rosa
AU - Milfont, Taciano L.
AU - Prokop, Pavol
AU - Aavik, Toivo
AU - Arriaga, Patrícia
AU - Baiocco, Roberto
AU - Cenek, Jirí
AU - Çetinkaya, Hakan
AU - Duyar, Izzet
AU - Guemaz, Farida
AU - Ishii, Tatsunori
AU - Kamburidis, Julia A.
AU - Khun-Inkeeree, Hareesol
AU - Lidborg, Linda H.
AU - Manor, Hagar
AU - Nussinson, Ravit
AU - Omar-Fauzee, Mohd Sofian B.
N1 - Funding Information: Patrícia Arriaga was supported by the FCT through funds from the research center UID/PSI/03125/2021. Anabela C. Santos was supported by the FCT through funds from a PhD grant SFRH/BD/126304/2016. Funding Information: Dmitry Grigoryev was supported by the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics ( HSE University ). Funding Information: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article:, This work is the result of the research project funded by the National Science Center, Poland (2019/33/N/HS6/00054). Dmitry Grigoryev was supported by the Basic Research Program at the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE University). Dmitrii Dubrov was supported by the Basic Research Program at HSE University, RF. Patrícia Arriaga was supported by the FCT through funds from the research center UID/PSI/03125/2021. Anabela C. Santos was supported by the FCT through funds from a PhD grant SFRH/BD/126304/2016. Kavitha Nalla Muthu and Chee-Seng Tan were supported by the UTAR Research Centre Excellence Award 2019 – CAP (6401/0019) from the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. The authors would like to thank the following scholars for their help with the translation: Christin-Melanie Vauclair Melanie, Cátia Carvalho, Diogo Lamela, Elena Piccinelli, and Isabel Pinto (Portuguese), Stanislava Stoyanova (Bulgarian), Vira Hrabchuk and Anne MacFarlane (Ukrainian). The authors would also like to thank the following organizations and individuals for their help with organizing data collection in El Salvador: the Escuela de Comunicación Mónica Herrera, Directora Nicole Paetz, asistente María Erlinda Ávalos, Diego Infante, and Gabriela Quintanilla. Funding Information: Kavitha Nalla Muthu and Chee-Seng Tan were supported by the UTAR Research Centre Excellence Award 2019 – CAP (6401/0019) from the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman. Funding Information: This work is the result of the research project funded by the National Science Center, Poland (2019/33/N/HS6/00054). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/11
Y1 - 2022/11
N2 - People across the world and throughout history have gone to great lengths to enhance their physical appearance. Evolutionary psychologists and ethologists have largely attempted to explain this phenomenon via mating preferences and strategies. Here, we test one of the most popular evolutionary hypotheses for beauty-enhancing behaviors, drawn from mating market and parasite stress perspectives, in a large cross-cultural sample. We also test hypotheses drawn from other influential and non-mutually exclusive theoretical frameworks, from biosocial role theory to a cultural media perspective. Survey data from 93,158 human participants across 93 countries provide evidence that behaviors such as applying makeup or using other cosmetics, hair grooming, clothing style, caring for body hygiene, and exercising or following a specific diet for the specific purpose of improving ones physical attractiveness, are universal. Indeed, 99% of participants reported spending >10 min a day performing beauty-enhancing behaviors. The results largely support evolutionary hypotheses: more time was spent enhancing beauty by women (almost 4 h a day, on average) than by men (3.6 h a day), by the youngest participants (and contrary to predictions, also the oldest), by those with a relatively more severe history of infectious diseases, and by participants currently dating compared to those in established relationships. The strongest predictor of attractiveness-enhancing behaviors was social media usage. Other predictors, in order of effect size, included adhering to traditional gender roles, residing in countries with less gender equality, considering oneself as highly attractive or, conversely, highly unattractive, TV watching time, higher socioeconomic status, right-wing political beliefs, a lower level of education, and personal individualistic attitudes. This study provides novel insight into universal beauty-enhancing behaviors by unifying evolutionary theory with several other complementary perspectives.
AB - People across the world and throughout history have gone to great lengths to enhance their physical appearance. Evolutionary psychologists and ethologists have largely attempted to explain this phenomenon via mating preferences and strategies. Here, we test one of the most popular evolutionary hypotheses for beauty-enhancing behaviors, drawn from mating market and parasite stress perspectives, in a large cross-cultural sample. We also test hypotheses drawn from other influential and non-mutually exclusive theoretical frameworks, from biosocial role theory to a cultural media perspective. Survey data from 93,158 human participants across 93 countries provide evidence that behaviors such as applying makeup or using other cosmetics, hair grooming, clothing style, caring for body hygiene, and exercising or following a specific diet for the specific purpose of improving ones physical attractiveness, are universal. Indeed, 99% of participants reported spending >10 min a day performing beauty-enhancing behaviors. The results largely support evolutionary hypotheses: more time was spent enhancing beauty by women (almost 4 h a day, on average) than by men (3.6 h a day), by the youngest participants (and contrary to predictions, also the oldest), by those with a relatively more severe history of infectious diseases, and by participants currently dating compared to those in established relationships. The strongest predictor of attractiveness-enhancing behaviors was social media usage. Other predictors, in order of effect size, included adhering to traditional gender roles, residing in countries with less gender equality, considering oneself as highly attractive or, conversely, highly unattractive, TV watching time, higher socioeconomic status, right-wing political beliefs, a lower level of education, and personal individualistic attitudes. This study provides novel insight into universal beauty-enhancing behaviors by unifying evolutionary theory with several other complementary perspectives.
KW - Appearance
KW - Evolutionary theory
KW - Mating market perspective
KW - Pathogen stress
KW - Self-modification
KW - Social media usage
U2 - 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.08.003
DO - 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.08.003
M3 - Article
SN - 1090-5138
VL - 43
SP - 455
EP - 474
JO - Evolution and Human Behavior
JF - Evolution and Human Behavior
IS - 6
ER -