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I. Introduction
a. Our project is based on the concepts of beauty and how important attractiveness is in certain
contexts. Essentially, what we are exploring is how attractive an individual is rated and then how
they are rated based on further information about their character. We would like to see if certain
personality traits, or a combination of personality traits have any impact on how attractive this
person is rated. The three traits that we decided to focus on were how successful, faithful and
kind the individual is. We hypothesize that all of these traits will have weight on how attractive
an individual is considered. Another hypothesis is that those individuals who are less faithful
will rate the lowest amongst all of the traits and that those individuals who are the most
successful will rate the highest.
b. We hope to accomplish the task of answering the question: how important is attractiveness (and
how important is attractiveness with regards to other traits)? Society is so focused on looks and
beauty that we would like to do some research to see if people are blind to other traits and focus
just on a person’s appearance.
c. This research is incredibly interesting in terms of what society forces upon the individual on a
daily basis. We are constantly told through the media that attractiveness is important and that
attractive people are more likely to succeed. This even manifests itself through young boys and
girls who struggle so much (and even get sick, i.e. anorexia) to meet this body ideal that society
imposes on all of its members. Even though we are testing well-educated college students, Wright
would say that it does not matter because how we view an individual based on attractiveness is
innate. It will be interesting to see if the results are a testament to society’s views.
II. Relevance of your research question
a. The University of St. Andrews did a perception lab on facial attractiveness and what makes an
individual attractive. This was great background for our understanding of attractiveness and if
there are certain qualities that are considered more attractive than others (and basic face
shapes). This site is found at: http://psy.st-and.ac.uk/research/perception_lab/index.html
There were many other websites that we found that examined attractiveness and its importance.
These sites are studies, academic papers, or articles dealing with our topic of interest.
http://www.ventrella.com/Alife/Attractiveness/attractiveness_0.html
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sch/social%20course/Attractiveness.htm
http://clearinghouse.mwsc.edu/manuscripts/197.asp
http://vassun.vassar.edu/~jurubins/attractiveness.html
http://www.dushkin.com/connectext/psy/ch15/attract.mhtml
http://www.cops.uni-sb.de/ronald/home.html
http://www.uoregon.edu/~bfmalle/sp/L15.html
Here are several articles we have found helpful in our research and background information:
Physical attractiveness contrast effect and the moderating influence of self-consciousness
Thornton, Bill Maurice, Jason K Sex Roles p. 379-392 Mar 1999
Americans agree that being attractive is a plus in American society Newport, Frank Gallup Poll
Monthly p. 45-48 Sep 1999
Characteristics of male attractiveness for women Maisey, D S Vale, E L E Cornelissen, P L Tovee, M
J The Lancet p. 1500 May 1, 1999
Effects of attractiveness and gender on the perception of achievement-related variables Chia, R C
Allred, L J Grossnickle, W F Lee, G W The Journal of Social Psychology p. 471-477 Aug 1998
b. Our study deals with the ultimate question of how people relate to each other. Research has
found that more attractive people are more likely to succeed and get hired for a job. How people
relate to an individual seems to then be somewhat based on how attractive that individual is.
II. Materials and Methods
a. We have decided to conduct our research in the form of a survey (or survey type experiment).
Our surveys will total 120, sampling 60 individuals at random from western and 60 individuals from
main campus (for the purpose of seeing if there is any variation between campuses and attitudes).
The person surveyed will first judge the attractiveness of a man (a provided picture) on the scale
of 1-10. Next the person will be given a profile highlighting the specific attributes we are
investigating: how successful the person is, how faithful and how kind. For each of those
attributes there will be a positive version and a negative version. The person tested will get one
of the profiles, either positive or negative. The person is then to rate the individual
attractiveness knowing these attributes. After the person has rated the picture initially and
after know some facts about them they will be given a short survey about the specific attribute and
how important that attribute is to them. There will be a total of six different profiles and three
different surveys. The person tested will then be asked to repeat the process with a female and a
different trait. The person is not judging the sexual attractiveness of a person or how likely
they would become involved with them, just how the person looks (and then how they look based on
the profile).
b. Our goal is to first see how the man and woman are rated on the scale of 1-10. After we find
that number, we will move on to examining and determining the number for each of the individual
categories (i.e. successful). After examining all of the numbers we will be able to see how
attractive that individual is and how the traits affected the person’s rated attractiveness. It
will then be important to see in the survey how important the traits were to the individual.
c. We gave the class our first survey and based on those results we revised it and molded it to better fit our project.
d. Sample questions are provided.
Profile #1 (positive kindness)
-this individual delivers meal on wheels to elderly people
-the people that know him/her say that they are always smiling and saying “hi” to people
-he/she would be the person that you call on if you need a favor or are in trouble
-this person would always give you a ride uptown if you needed one
Profile #2 (negative kindness)
-this individual never really goes out of his/her way for others
-he/she never asks you how you are doing
-this individual frequently bullies others or puts them down
Kindness Questions
1. A person’s kindness is something I value profoundly in a relationship (i.e. friendship)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2. A person does not really have to go out of their way for others to be my friend
yes no
3. I would I rate my own kindness towards others
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4. I usually surround myself with people who are not exclusive or are concidered to be very nice by others.
yes no
Profile #3 (positive success)
-this person has a large trust fund waiting for them
-this person is considered by the other people in their field of study to be one of the best
-he/she just got a promotion at their job
-he/she has a six figure salary
Profile #4 (negative success)
-this person comes from a poor background
-he/she waits tables at a local cafˇ
-money is not of any importance to them
-he/she doesn’t have big aspirations to move up in their company or place of employment
Success Questions
1. A person’s rate of success is a reflection on the person his/her self.
yes no
2. Having successful friends and a mate are important to me.
yes no
3. Do you associate money with success?
yes no
4. In the future how successful do you see yourself being?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Profile #5 (positive faithful)
-this person is great at keeping a secret
-he/she has never cheated on their mate and don’t plan on doing so
-this person is always one that can be depended upon
Profile #6 (negative faithful)
-this person can’t always be depended on to be there for you when you are in a tough situation
-this person has cheated on his/her mate, but swears they will never do it again
-this person hits on other people when they have a girlfriend/boyfriend
Faithful Questions
1. If a person cheats on me how likely am I to break up with them?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2. I don’t care if my friends are faithful to their partners.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
3. I have cheated on a mate before.
yes no
4. How is important to me someone’s faithfulness, whether in friendship or a romantic relationship?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
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