Personality information: Does it influence attractiveness ratings of various body sizes?

    Authors

    B. Fisak; S. Tantleff-Dunn;R. D. Peterson

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Body Image

    Keywords

    attractiveness; body image; gender; personality; PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS; SEX-DIFFERENCES; MATE SELECTION; VALIDATION; TRAITS; SCALE; Psychology, Clinical; Psychiatry; Psychology, Multidisciplinary

    Abstract

    In the present study, the influence of personality information on attractiveness ratings of different body sizes was examined. Specifically, participants were presented with either no personality information, negative information, or positive information about a hypothetical female target and asked to rate the smallest and largest figure that they would consider attractive for her using a figure rating scale. Consistent with the study hypotheses: (1) participants chose a wider range of figures as attractive for a female described to have a positive personality when compared to the range chosen when no personality information was provided; (2) females selected wider attractive ranges than males; and (3) other participant characteristics (i.e., physical appearance anxiety and body mass) were found to predict attractive ranges selected by participants. These findings may have implications for the treatment of body-image disturbance, as the findings suggest that personality, rather than appearance alone, may be a factor in perceptions of attractiveness of various body sizes. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

    Journal Title

    Body Image

    Volume

    4

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2007

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    213

    Last Page

    217

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000257241300010

    ISSN

    1740-1445

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