The power of beauty has been contemplated by writers, poets, and philosophers for centuries. The link between the target physical attractiveness and perceived social influence effectiveness has not been directly and systematically investigated. The goal of this study was to assess whether physically attractive (versus unattractive) individuals are…

Most researchers explain the attractiveness-personality link in terms of a simple self-fulfilling prophecy model: a person's good looks evoke a "Beauty is Good" stereotype that causes positive treatment by others, which, in turn, causes the target to develop a "good personality." An alternative conceptual framework expands on the current implicit…

Reviewers of the physical attractiveness literature have concluded that there is a strong general link between attractiveness and personality with most "good-looking" people having positive personalities and their less well-endowed compatriots possessing relative negative qualities. The attractiveness-personality covariation is often explained,…

This document reports on an investigation focusing on how the content of introductory college psychology texts' content related to physical attractiveness and self-esteem. The primary objective of this study was to review how recently published life-span developmental texts present physical development in middle childhood as related to traditional…

To explore the dimensions of credibility and physical attractiveness in a public relations setting, the impact of public relations (PR) spokesperson physical attractiveness--as operationalized as photographs of the spokesperson attached to a press release--on perceptions of both the writer's and the organization's credibility was examined.…

Although research suggest a general preference by men for attractive partners, attractiveness may be more important for some men than for others. This study was conducted to investigate the role of men's sex stereotypic attitudes on their dating preferences. It was hypothesized that the level of sex stereotyping would correlate with the level…

Some researchers have found men to attribute more sexual meaning to heterosexual interactions than do women. This study was conducted to examine factors which may enhance or diminish this gender difference on perceptions of sexual intent by considering the three variables of physical attractiveness of target, similarity of target's personality to…

Previous research has suggested that men are stereotypically believed to be better leaders than women; that more physically attractive people are evaluated more positively than less attractive people; and that men and women use different leadership styles. This study examined the interactions of sex, leader style, and physical attractiveness on…

Although there has been much research on the link between femininity and female appearance, body image, and eating disorders, there has been little research with respect to the behavior of eating itself. Recent literature has indicated that an individual's perception of a women can be affected by the amount of food that the woman is perceived as…

This study examined the influence of appearance on leadership processes by examining the effect of attractiveness on the actual performance of a leadership task. College students (N=62) performed a simulation task in which they played the role of a candidate for student government president. All the students were videotaped, giving a prepared…

Past research has suggested that interpersonal influence in counseling is enhanced as clients perceive their counselors to be interpersonally attractive and similar to themselves. This study examined the relationship of specific verbal and nonverbal cues to perceived counselor attractiveness in a field setting, and explored the relation between…

The aim of this study was to identify factors associated with young adults' concerns about age related changes in body image and their anticipated impact on psychosocial functioning. One hundred and sixty-seven college students completed the Body Image and Aging Survey, designed to assess age related issues in body image, the Peer Dieting Survey,…

Franzoi and Shields (1984) described the development of a 35-item scale for measuring body esteem and discussed the factor structure, reliability, and validity of that scale. They reported finding three dimensions of body esteem for young men and women in the scale they developed, although the factors differed between the sexes and were more…

To examine older women's appearance self-perceptions, a study surveyed two groups of older and younger subjects. The control group consisted of 93 female undergraduate students at a state university in West Virginia. The test group consisted of 85 non-institutionalized females aged 55 to 93, from senior centers, craft groups, church groups, and…

Based on people's implicit expectations about how high and low self-monitors will present themselves, it was hypothesized that observers would be able to infer dispositional characteristics of the two personality types from their clothing preferences. To test this hypothesis, prototypical wardrobes were empirically constructed for the high and low…