Stereotyping Physical Attractiveness

Abstract

Why does stereotyping based on physical attractiveness occur? We proposed a sociocultural hypothesis that physical attractiveness is less likely to be a salient evaluative cue in cultural contexts where collectivism, rather than individualism, is the basis for the dominant system of values. In collectivist cultures, the group rather than the individual is stressed, suggesting that social judgments, such as first impressions of others, are more likely to be based on group-related attributes (e.g., family, position in a social network), rather than personal or individuating elements, such as physical attractiveness. From this perspective, we predicted that individuals of Chinese ethnicity, who were mostly from Asian Pacific Rim countries and cities and were attending university in Canada, would be less prone to physical attractiveness stereotyping if they reported high involvement in Toronto's Chinese community, rather than low involvement. We suggested that high Chinese community involvement would reinforce and maintain a more collectivist value orientation, which should reduce the likelihood of stereotyping of own-group members based on physical attractiveness for the reasons discussed above. To test this hypothesis, subjects were asked to complete a measure of participation in various aspects of the Chinese community and to rate the personality traits and expected life outcomes of stimulus persons who varied in physical attractiveness. Our sociocultural hypothesis was supported in the case of personality trait ratings (the principal measure in attractiveness stereotyping research), but not on expected life outcome ratings. Implications of these findings for understanding attractiveness stereotyping are discussed.