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Measuring Physical Attractiveness |
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The pervasive power wielded by physical attractiveness phenomenon raises questions about what is physical attractiveness, how is it measured, and is it not in the eye of the beholder?
People (consciously or subconsciously) make robust assumptions about many non-visible characteristics of other people based on the informational cue provided by an individual's physical attractiveness. These attributions translate ultimately into benefits and advantages for people who possess higher physical attractiveness, and detriments and disadvantages for those who do not.
It seems on first appearance that no one can accurately research physical attractiveness phenomenon because physical attractiveness is subjective. It is an esthetic without objective absolute values or measures. A common mistake by people new to thinking or study about physical attractiveness is the assumption that physical attractiveness is an evaluation unique to each individual and, subsequently, that measuring and determining physical attractiveness are not possible. However that is not the case. Accepted that it has its own obstacles and challenges in measurement but then which branch of social-psychology research hasn't?
To say that people cannot describe or measure physical attractiveness attributes even greater power to physical attractiveness than it has already. It is true that physical attractiveness is not as readily or as commonly described and precisely measured as, say, car speed at which we travel or air temperature around us.
Regardless of obstacles, a judicious perspective to keep in mind is that "if something exists, it must exist in some amount, and if something exists in some amount, surely there is some way to measure it", - Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949), American psychologist and educator.
Despite conventional wisdom, or more likely wishful thinking to some people, beauty is not in the eye of the beholder…or, if it is, this beholding is not relevant since there is high agreement between beholders about who and what are high and low in physical attractiveness. Physical attractiveness is certainly an esthetic for which there is no absolute gauge, but, maybe surprising, there is convincing agreement about physical attractiveness of males and females of all ages, when rated by males and females of all ages in all cultures and all times.
What to measure? Or Measure qualification
Research after research has shown that objective measure of attractiveness by external judges produces more consistent data than self-measure. Accurate self evaluation of physical attractiveness has proven largely unrealistic. Individuals tend to see themselves "through a dark glass,” producing no statistically significant agreement between self ratings and ratings by others. In contrast, there is high agreement among physical attractiveness ratings between other persons (particularly strangers). This agreement, demonstrated by high correlation values between judges, exists for same sex and opposite sex judges, along with statistical reliability of physical attractiveness evaluations for a person who rates physical attractiveness at one time period and again assigns equivalent ratings later.
Physical Attractiveness Measures Are Reliable
A consistent measurement result from independent origins is a goal of measurement reliability in scientific research. The data confirm the 'truth of consensus' procedure yields a research construct that is highly reliable, as well as utilitarian. To the extent that reliability is the same as agreement between measures, physical attractiveness measures are very reliable. Both primary methodologies for assessing reliability—test retest and multiple procedures—support confirmatory conclusions about the strength of reliability indicated by studies investigating the inter-judge correlations for physical attractiveness measures.
Physical Attractiveness Measures are Valid The collective physical attractiveness phenomenon research provides assurance for internal validity and external validity. The findings about physical attractiveness phenomenon from laboratory experiments have involved solid internal validity, which permits conclusions that physical attractiveness has caused the resulting variances. Similarly, the findings from field experiments that show solid external validity have verified findings of internally valid experiments.
The collective physical attractiveness phenomenon research performs well for convergent validity and discriminant validity as well. Although seldom reported in individual research projects but when explicitly performed and reported, both primary methodologies for assessing validity—multimethod matrix and test retest procedures—support confirmatory conclusions about the strength of convergent and discriminant validity within physical attractiveness phenomenon research.
Truth of Consensus Methodology
In physical attractiveness, researchers employ “Truth of Consensus” research methodology, whereby others judge the physical attractiveness of a stimulus person without explicit reference to any single determinant, i.e., a Gestalt perspective (the whole is greater than the sum of its parts). If certain features of a person are significant or not significant in determining physical attractiveness, for research purposes it is largely not important or relevant.
The bulk of research germane to physical attractiveness phenomenon necessarily employs a Gestalt perspective whereby “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts” to accommodate the vastness and complexity of physical attractiveness and physical attractiveness phenomenon. It is not necessarily simply a person’s outstanding nose or skin or any other single part but it is all the parts together that determine a person’s physical attractiveness. |
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Reliable & Valid- Gestalt Perspective |
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Despite conventional wisdom, beauty is not in the eye of the beholder…or, if it is, this beholding is not relevant since there is high agreement between beholders about who and what are high and low in physical attractiveness. |
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The bulk of research germane to physical attractiveness phenomenon necessarily employs a Gestalt perspective whereby “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts”.
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