Human beings are different from each other in more ways than one. Each person varies in their personality, talents, cultural background, and even how they view the world around them. Some people are creative while others are analytic. Some excel in activities that involve physical strength while others shine in those requiring emotional intelligence. One area where this difference is striking is in the appearance of the individual.
Unlike many of these other differences, variations in physical appearance are instantly noticeable even before we get to know someone. Previous research has consistently shown that even before we exchange a single word with someone, our mind, either consciously or unconsciously forms an impression of the person. Interestingly, this initial impression is built majorly on the physical appearance of the person. Consequently, irrespective of how true or false it is, this impression we create significantly influences how we treat that person.
Due to the influence of variations in physical appearance and the decision-making process, it is therefore unsurprising that physically attractive people tend to receive more advantages in different aspects of life. For instance, physically attractive people are more likely to get better job prospects and receive higher salaries. They are also more likely to form more positive interactions with people.
Physical Attractiveness Drives Decision making in Relationships
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Relationship studies have proven that this is applicable even in relationships between men and women. One study reported that women are more likely to warm up to men they consider handsome. While they attribute a man’s unattractiveness to the increased likelihood of him being “bad” and “unromantic.” These occurrences have been described to be due to a phenomenon known as “the beauty premium.”
While it is known that physical attractiveness influences decisions women make in relationships, the extent of its trueness in some situations is still yet to be researched.
A recent study investigated the relationship between a man’s physical appearance and the likelihood of gaining favors including financial from women. This aspect is quite interesting because, in many cultures, being the provider, the man is supposed to give to the woman and not the other way around. However, what this study unraveled is even more interesting.
In their investigation, the study authors, Junchen Shang, and Yizhuo Zhang, applied a unique model composed of two interrelated games, “the Dictator” and “the Ultimatum” games. According to the “Dictator” game, one player (the “dictator”) is provided with a certain sum of money and is expected to decide on how to share it between themselves and another player who has no right whatsoever in the decision-making process. Similarly, in the “Ultimatum” game, the money is meant to be shared between the two players. However, unlike in the “Dictator” game, both players have a say in the sharing process. In fact, in this game, one player is expected to propose a division of the money given while the other player either accepts or rejects the proposal. If the proposal is accepted, both players go with their individual amounts while they get nothing if the proposal by one player is rejected by the other.
The researchers hypothesized that attractive male physical appearance activates the beauty premium which causes the female players to give them more money. They also anticipated the same finding in situations where the male showed some interest in the female player.
Women Give More Money to Physically Attractive Men
A total of 70 female students from the Southeast University of China were recruited for the study. These participants had an average age of 21 years. In a bid to guarantee the participants were responding to genuine stimuli, the researchers carefully picked 32 handsome and 32 unattractive male faces from a wider database. They also recruited a second set of students to estimate the attractiveness of these faces; these students did not take part in the main experiment. The researchers combined the faces selected to voices which like the faces, were also subjected to a strict selection process. A total of 32 attractive and 32 unattractive voices were obtained.
In the experiment, each woman was shown a random combination of faces and voices for 2 seconds and then tasked with splitting 10 yuan (about $1.40) between herself and her male partner.
Interestingly, the results obtained in both the “Dictator” and “Ultimatum” games mirrored the researchers’ hypothesis. In the dictator game, the women gave an average of 3.35 yuan to men with attractive faces. Compared to 2.68 yuan given to men with unattractive faces. In the “ultimatum” game, they offered an average of 4.52 yuan to men with attractive faces and 3.94 yuan to those with unattractive faces. This finding was also reflected in the analyses involving voice where males with attractive voices received more money than those with unattractive voices.
Clinical Significance
The study’s findings highlight the powerful influence of physical appearance on human interactions and decision-making. This influence spans even beyond relationships to healthcare settings and may inadvertently affect patient care. Consequently, it is important that healthcare experts acknowledge the presence of the “beauty premium” and actively work to mitigate its effects.
References
Shang, J., Zhang, Y. Influence of male’s facial attractiveness, vocal attractiveness and social interest on female’s decisions of fairness. Sci Rep 14, 16778 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-67841-w
Bateson, P. Why are individuals so different from each other? Heredity 115, 285–292 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.2014.103
Hu, Y., & O’Toole, A. J. (2023). First impressions: Integrating faces and bodies in personality trait perception. Cognition, 231, 105309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105309.
Jeremy L. Gibson, Jonathan S. Gore. You’re OK Until You Misbehave: How Norm Violations Magnify the Attractiveness Devil Effect. Gender Issues, 2015; https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-015-9142-5
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