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Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? Do we judge books by their cover? Is beauty only skin deep?
Maxims or Myths of Beauty? A meta-analytic and theoretical review
Psychological Bulletin, 2000, 126, 390-423
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What is meta-analysis?
A quantitative review in which effects are calculated using the literature available from published and unpublished sources. In our case, we reviewed the literature on the effects of facial attractiveness from 1932 to June, 1999.
What is the purpose of this meta-analysis?
To evaluate three common maxims suggesting that attractiveness should not be important:
- Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
- Never judge a book by its cover.
- Beauty is only skin-deep.
To evaluate two common theoretical explanations of attractiveness effects:
- Socialization theory
- Fitness-related evolutionary theory
Results
- Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?
No
- Raters agree about who is and is not attractive, both within and across ethnicity and culture. Beauty is not merely in the eye of the beholder.
- There may be universal standards by which attractiveness is judged.
- Do we really never judge a book by its cover?
No
- Attractive adults and children are judged more favorably than unattractive adults and children, even by those who know them.
- Attractive adults and children are treated more positively than unattractive adults and children, even by those who know them.
- Is beauty only skin deep?
No
- Beauty may be more than skin-deep: Although both attractive and unattractive people exhibit positive behaviors and traits, attractive people exhibit more positive behaviors and traits than unattractive individuals.
- What are some other interesting results of the meta-analysis?
- Attractiveness is just as important in influencing our judgments and behavior toward others when we know them as when we do not.
- Attractiveness is as important for males as for females in judging people we know.
- Attractiveness is as important, if not more so, for children than for adults.
- How do these results fit with social expectancy and fitness-related evolutionary theories?
- Although predictions from both theories were partially supported, neither theory successfully predicted all findings from this meta-analysis.
- Much additional research is needed before we can discover WHY and exactly HOW facial attractiveness influences social behavior and social development.
For more detailed information for this and other areas
of our research, see our Selected Publications page.
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