Newsgroups: bit.listserv.psycgrad
Date:         Mon, 25 Jan 1993 14:57:38 -0800
              <PSYCGRAD@UOTTAWA.BITNET>
From:         Tor Neilands <tbn@UTXVM.CC.UTEXAS.EDU>
Subject:      Re:

Gerri writes:

>My comment is, what is "Global Attractiveness", and who's the judge?
>When you say a person who is an "8" is likely to have a partner who is
>also an "8", do you really mean a person who is judged as an 8 by a
>particular judge will likely have a partner who is also judged as an
>"8" by the same judge? Or were ratings averaged scores of a number of
>judges (in which case judge1 could've given couple1 an 8 and a 4, and
>judge2 could've give couple1 a 4 and an 8.. neither judge rated the
>partners the same, yet the averaged scores would imply that the judges
>felt the partners had the same attractiveness)..

My understanding of the way this works is that there's usually some type of
interrater reliability computed across all targets by at least two or more
judges. So, if you and I were judges, we would have to agree at least most
of the time to a fairly high degree on who's attractive and who isn't for
the target photograph or person to be used in the study.
>
>In general, I think attractiveness rating is too subjective a call. I
>don't think there are any absolutes on attractiveness. I would be more
>likely to believe the conclusion that couples tend to have the same sort
>of look, and therefore may tend to be rated the same in level of
>attractiveness by a particular judge.
>
>g

You raise a number of interesting issues. There are those doing research
here at UT who would vehemently disagree with you. They're trying to argue
that "average" faces are more attractive--that is, faces with features
which are of average sizing and dimension are seen as being more attractive
than are faces with non-average dimensions. The way they do this is they
digitize faces and mix 'em together and get one "face" out of two, four,
eight, sixteen, thirty-two, etc. other faces. Turns out that the composites
are seen as being more attractive than are the individual faces from which
the composites are drawn.

I'm not sure that I, personally, agree with their conclusions (that this is
a universal phenomenon). First, as I've grown older, I've found myself
attracted to faces with more "character" in them--differences, not the
norm. Normative faces that seemed cute at 18 now seem too run of the mill
and boring. It would be interesting to see if there's an age influence on
attractiveness judgements. Second, there's a huge difference between
attractiveness and action/behaviors---how we window shop ain't necessarily
how we buy. Sometimes we glance at a Rolls Royce and go "Mm-hm, sweet, but
I sure as hell wouldn't want to own one". Oftentimes we go (I would hope!)
for other attributes besides looks. Recall that one social psych study
where attractive women who were accused of using their "wiles" to "induce"
a man to commit a crime were given harsher prison sentences than were
unattractive female targets?

I think the last point raised about "couples who look like one another" is
an interesting phenomenon---one has to wonder how much of that happens from
similar others getting together (folks of similar attractiveness levels)
vs. two people getting together and changing each other such that they
become more similar to each other over time? Is it the chicken or the egg?
Plus, once one person gets to know another, don't attractiveness judgements
change? And, if they do, what does that say about these research paradigms
that rely so heavily on initial encounters as bases for broad statements
about attractiveness in general?

cheers,

Tor

Tor Neilands                            Computation Center
Systems Analyst                      University of Texas at Austin
Statistical Services Group        Internet: TBN@Utxvm.cc.utexas.edu

______________________________________________________________________
"Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics,
 because the stakes are so low".                         --- Wallace Sayre

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and I, I took the road less traveled
  by, and that has made all the difference".        --- Robert Frost
______________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer:  All of the views expressed above are solely those of the
author and not necessarily those of the University of Texas or the
University of Texas Computation Center.
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