Do Men Believe That Physically Attractive Women are More Healthy and Capable of Having Children?

The purpose of this research was to test the hypothesis that men view physical attractiveness as an index of a woman's health and her capacity to have children. 21 men and 26 women from an introductory psychology course were shown photographs from 1972 of men and women college students, judged in 2002 to be attractive or unattractive. Subjects were asked to rate the photographed individuals' current health, the probability that they were married, the probability that they had children, and whether they had reproductive problems. The hypothesis was generally supported; the men rated the photographs of attractive women as healthier, more likely to be married, and more likely to have children.

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Individual Differences in Valuing Mates' Physical Attractiveness

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.99.2.502-511 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 99 (2) ◽

pp. 502-511

Author(s):

Eugene W. Mathes ◽

Abby Bielser ◽

Ticcarra Cassell ◽

Sarah Summers ◽

Aggie Witowski

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Evolutionary Theory ◽

Physical Attractiveness ◽

Men And Women ◽

Women College Students

To investigate correlates of valuing physical attractiveness in a mate, it was hypothesized that valuing physical attractiveness in a mate would correlate with sex and valuing promiscuous sex, status, personal physical attractiveness, beauty, and order. Men and women college students completed measures of the extent to which they valued physical attractiveness in a mate and other variables. Valuing physical attractiveness in a mate was correlated with sex (men valued physical attractiveness in a mate more than did women) and valuing promiscuous sex and status, and, for women, valuing personal physical attractiveness. The results were explained in terms of evolutionary theory.

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Incidence of Some Oral-Based Habits among College Students and Their Correlations with Use of Oral Stimulants

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1993.72.3.735 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 72 (3) ◽

pp. 735-738 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Charles E. Joubert

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Young Adults ◽

Point Scale ◽

Tobacco Products ◽

Men And Women ◽

Women College Students ◽

Self Reports

This study explored the incidence of three personal habits and their correlates with popular tensional outlets. The 108 men and 202 women college students estimated how often they bit their fingernails, picked their noses, chewed on pencils or other objects, used specific tobacco products, used specific caffeine products, chewed gum, and exercised Also, they rated their happiness on a seven-point scale in Likert format. The fingernail-biting incidence observed here was higher than was reported in previous samples of young adults, and more men than women were nail-biters. More men than women admitted to nose-picking; and about 61% of persons of either sex reported being occasional object-chewers. Men were more likely to exercise, use tobacco products, or consume iced tea than were women but were less likely to chew gum. The intercorrelations among the habits were not significant, and they were unrelated to lower self-reports of happiness. Both men and women who were object-chewers reported drinking greater amounts of cola beverages; otherwise, the relationships between these habits and product uses were not significant.

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Internal-External Control, Achievement Orientation and Physical Attractiveness of College Students

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1976.38.3c.1205 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 38 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 1205-1206 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Thomas F. Cash ◽

Phyllis J. Begley

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Locus Of Control ◽

Internal Control ◽

Physical Attractiveness ◽

External Control ◽

Achievement Orientation ◽

Female College ◽

Physically Attractive

The validity of the stereotype by which physically attractive persons are attributed greater internal control and greater success orientation than unattractive persons was studied among college students. For 32 male and 32 female college undergraduates, while attractiveness was unrelated to achievement orientation, attractive individuals were in fact more internal in their locus of control.

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Sex-Stereotyped Traits, Physical Attractiveness, and Interpersonal Attraction

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1977.41.3f.1311 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 41 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 1311-1322 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Steve A. Nida ◽

John E. Williams

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Personality Traits ◽

Physical Attractiveness ◽

Interpersonal Attraction ◽

Stimulus Person ◽

Same Sex ◽

Marital Partner ◽

Basic Procedure ◽

Interpersonal Situations ◽

Physically Attractive

Two distinct categories of information operative in interpersonal situations are what a person “looks like” and what the person “acts like.” The former can be represented by degree of physical attractiveness. The latter can be summarized in terms of personality traits, classified according to the degree to which they are typically seen as masculine or feminine. The present research assessed the effects of simultaneously manipulating these two variables on different measures of heterosexual interpersonal attraction. The basic procedure involved college students' reading an elaborate context story from which ratings of hypothetical stimulus persons, in both “working partner” and “marital partner” contexts, emerged. The physical attractiveness of the hypothetical person was varied by means of facial photographs, and the person's trait description was manipulated for degree of sex-stereotype loading on the basis of “sex-stereotype index” values for adjectives. In both experiments subjects strongly preferred physically attractive stimulus persons. In a study in which subjects chose between two stimulus persons, interpersonal attraction was related to the sex-stereotype loading of personality traits, with subjects preferring stimulus persons described with traits drawn from the same-sex stereotype. In a second study in which subjects rated only one stimulus person, such an effect did not occur. In both studies feminine traits were more highly valued than masculine characteristics within the context of marriage.

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First-Generation College Students’ Academic Challenges Understood Through the Lens of Expectancy Value Theory in an Introductory Psychology Course

Teaching of Psychology ◽

10.1177/0098628320964787 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 009862832096478

Author(s):

Jacqueline Goldman ◽

Benjamin C. Heddy ◽

Jenel Cavazos

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

First Generation ◽

First Generation College Students ◽

Value Theory ◽

Introductory Psychology ◽

Drop Out ◽

Academic Challenges ◽

Psychology Courses ◽

Psychology Course

Background: First-generation (FG) college students have been a popular subpopulation to study within educational literature as these students experience many unique challenges in their academic careers causing them to drop out within their first year. This gives courses with high first-time freshman numbers such as introductory psychology courses a unique opportunity to reach many of these students. Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine new perspectives of FG students that may further explain hindrances to retention and achievement. Method: One hundred and ninety-three undergraduate students in an introductory psychology course completed surveys on task values in reference to psychology content at three different time points across the semester. Students’ exam scores were also reported as a measurement of academic achievement. Results: Analyses showed that FG college students reported higher levels of cost value and growth in cost value across the semester compared to non-FG college students. Conclusion: FG college students experience academic challenges that may be related to their valuing of their educative experience in psychology courses. Teaching Implications: Educators should actively attempt to alleviate academic obstacles facing FG college students by increasing access to the professor, ease of access to help, and assignment clarity.

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Perception of Physical Attractiveness Influenced by Similarity of Attitudes

Perceptual and Motor Skills ◽

10.2466/pms.1986.63.1.185 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 63 (1) ◽

pp. 185-186 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Manfred Hassebrauck

Keyword(s):

Everyday Life ◽

Physical Attractiveness ◽

Target Person ◽

Likert Scales ◽

Men And Women ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Physically Attractive

59 men and women, 20 to 30 yr. old, rated 15 items about everyday life on Likert scales and 5 wk. later rated a male's photograph for attractiveness and similarity. A target person who appeared verbally similar to the subjects was rated more physically attractive than a dissimilar target. No negative effect of dissimilarity was noted.

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Cognitive Exercise Boosts Exam Performance in an Introductory Psychology Course

Teaching of Psychology ◽

10.1177/0098628319834196 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 46 (2) ◽

pp. 135-139

Author(s):

Holly A. White ◽

Lauren E. Highfill

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Exercise Program ◽

Introductory Psychology ◽

College Classroom ◽

Exam Performance ◽

Note Taking ◽

Lecture Material ◽

Cognitive Exercise ◽

Psychology Course

The present study piloted a cognitive exercise program in a college classroom to enhance learning of lecture material. Undergraduate students enrolled in introductory psychology ( N = 68) completed variations of letter–number cancelation tasks with spoken instructions in 5-min sessions prior to lecture during four nonconsecutive class periods. Results showed significantly better exam performance on material based on lectures that followed cognitive exercise compared to lectures on nonexercise days. On an anonymous program feedback survey, students reported significantly greater levels of alertness following cognitive exercise versus before; the majority of students rated their attention to lecture and note-taking ability as above average after cognitive workouts. Although preliminary, findings suggest that cognitive exercise in the classroom may positively impact learning for college students.

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Loneliness and College Achievement: Do Loneliness Scale Scores Predict College Drop-Out?

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1993.73.3f.1283 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 73 (3_suppl) ◽

pp. 1283-1288 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Ken J. Rotenberg ◽

Jon Morrison

Keyword(s):

College Students ◽

Introductory Psychology ◽

Drop Out ◽

Dropping Out ◽

Men And Women ◽

College Dropout ◽

Loneliness Scale ◽

Scale Scores ◽

College Drop Out ◽

Academic Year

916 college students enrolled in two consecutive years of introductory psychology (1989 and 1990) were administered the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale at the beginning of the academic year. When controlling for the number of students who withdrew because their grades were poor, loneliness scale scores predicted college dropout for men from the 1989 group and for men and women from the 1990 group. The potential of loneliness, as a state and a trait, as a predictor of dropping out of college was discussed.

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Physical Attractiveness Stereotype in Causal Attributions for Socially Undesirable Behavior

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.1992.70.1.115 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 70 (1) ◽

pp. 115-123 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

John C. Fredricks ◽

Sidney J. Arenson

Keyword(s):

Physical Attractiveness ◽

Causal Attributions ◽

Men And Women ◽

Attributional Bias ◽

High Consistency ◽

Physically Attractive ◽

Undesirable Behavior

Causal attributions for socially undesirable behavior performed by physically attractive and unattractive stimulus persons were investigated among 144 men and women respondents. An attributional bias was predicted such that upon learning that a person has engaged in socially undesirable behavior in the context of a pattern of low consensus, low distinctiveness, and high consistency information, respondents would make more internal attributions for unattractive than for attractive persons. It was also predicted that respondents exposed to a pattern of high consensus, high distinctiveness, and high consistency information would make more external attributions for attractive than for unattractive individuals. These predictions were not confirmed. Although there was evidence for stereotyping of physical attractiveness, respondents (72 male and 72 female undergraduates) indicated no bias in the causal attributions made for the behavior of individuals differing in attractiveness. These findings suggest a limitation of the generality of the stereotype of physical attractiveness.

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