Puttfng Your Best Face Forward: The Social Psychology of Physkal Attractiveness

Japanese aristocrats of both sexes, during the Heian Period (794-1191), applied rouge to their cheeks, but never to their lips. They did not want to draw attention to the mouth, which they considered a rather bestial part of the body. I Ancient Egyptians such as Princess Nef ertiti, as well as some people of the ancient societies of Greece, Rome, France, and America, had their heads artificially elongated in the belief that this enhanced their beauty.z (p. 46) In contemporary Nigeria, a people called the Tiv scar their bodies and chip their teeth for aesthetic reasons.s (p. 75-80) The Bangwa of Cameroon, like many present-day cultures, use scars to indicate social status. In the South Seas, Melanesian traders believe in the magical efficacy of face and body paints to close business deals.j (p. 46-7) To those of us living in the industrialized West, these beauty enhancing practices may seem bizarre or even absurd. Yet, as Robert Brain points out in The Decomted Body, we have similar beliefs and practices. German university students used to slash each other’s faces during duels. The students then poured wine into the wounds to exaggerate the scarring. The scars were taken as proof of manliness and strengths (p. 68,73) Brain also compares the American businessperson’s belief in “dressing for success” to the Melanesian trader’s faith in the mystical power of cosmetics.s (p. 46-7) In fact, it’s fair to say that Americans are as preoccupied with physical attractiveness as any society. Americans spend about $11 billion per year on cosmetics alone.4 Humans aren’t the only creatures influenced by attractiveness. Many animals seem to be greatly affected by attractiveness among their own kind. Female peafowl seem to choose as mates the males with the largest, brightest, most intricate tails. Presumably, in their evolution the peacocks with the most spectacular tails were the ones most likely to find mates. Natural selection may account for the peacock’s present-day beauty. Matt Ridley, Oxford University, suggests that the peacock’s tail (or “train”) may even exert a hypnotic effect on the female. He writes, “Perhaps hypnosis is too strong a word. But how often in romantic literature do people ‘fall under each other’s spell’? Is it too absurd to deny the peacock’s ‘jewelled splendor’ the same power over the peahen?”s Whether physical attractiveness helps people along the evolutionary ladder is an open question. Such speculations are now part of the new and highly controversial field of sociobiology. b,T In fact, most of what we know today about attractiveness comes from psychologists and other social scientists. Interestingly, researchers have not been able to clearly define what most Americans consider physically attractive. A number of factors do seem to contribute to a given person’s perception of beauty or attractiveness. Among them are height and slenderness. But in