Common beauty maxims suggest that attractiveness is unimportant in life. Both fitness-related evolutionary theory and socialization theory, on the other hand, suggest that attractiveness influences development and interaction. The authors evaluate these contradictory claims in 11 meta-analyses, demonstrating that (a) raters agree on who is and is not attractive, both within and across cultures; (b) attractive children and adults are judged more positively than unattractive children and adults, even by those who know them; (c) attractive children and adults are treated more positively than unattractive children and adults, even by those who know them; and (d) attractive children and adults are treated more positively than attractive children and adults, even The findings are used to assess the validity of social and fitness-related evolutionary theories, as well as the veracity of beauty maxims.
Langlois, J. H., & Stephan, C. (1977). The effects of physical attractiveness and ethnicity on children’s behavioral attributions and peer preferences. Child Development, 1694-1698. https://doi.org/10.2307/1128538
The goal of this study was to look into the generality of stereotypes associated with physical attractiveness, as well as to evaluate the relative contributions of attractiveness and ethnicity in determining children’s attributions and peer preferences. Subjects included 120 kindergarten and fourth-grade Black, Anglo, and Mexican-American children who were shown pretested photographs of an attractive and unattractive stimulus child from each of the three ethnic groups. Each child was asked to rate the stimulus child on a variety of factors such as physical attractiveness, liking preferences, and behavioral characteristics. Children from all three ethnic groups primarily responded based on physical attractiveness rather than ethnicity. Attractive stimulus children were liked more, were perceived as smarter, had higher ratings for sharing and friendliness, and had lower ratings for meanness and hitting other children. According to the data, physical attractiveness stereotypes are stronger predictors of peer preferences and behavioral attributions than ethnic stereotypes.