Title

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

Authors

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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