The Effects of Physical Attractiveness on Attributions of Causality for Success and Failure [electronic resource] / Seymour Wiener and Others.
Based on research indicating the existence of a generalized positive stereotype of physically attractive individuals, the present study was designed to investigate the effects of an individual's attractiveness on attributions about his achievement-related behavior. In the context of an accuracy...
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| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
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Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse,
1975.
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| Summary: | Based on research indicating the existence of a generalized positive stereotype of physically attractive individuals, the present study was designed to investigate the effects of an individual's attractiveness on attributions about his achievement-related behavior. In the context of an accuracy-of-person perception task, 162 male and female subjects were shown a photograph of either a male or female physically attractive or unattractive stimulus person. Subjects were told that the stimulus person had either succeeded or failed on an examination, and were asked to attribute the stimulus person's success or failure to four attributional categories (i.e., task difficulty, luck, ability, and effort). The results indicated that physical attractiveness affected causal attributions, especially for those who were unattractive. Unattractive individuals were seen as having very high ability and expending much effort when successful, but very low ability and effort expended when they failed. This finding was especially pronounced for female, as compared to male subjects. A number of such sex-related findings are discussed as well as the implication of these findings for other attribution-type studies. (Author) |
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| Item Description: | ERIC Document Number: ED117588. ERIC Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association (46th, Chicago, Illinois, May 2-4, 1975). |
| Physical Description: | 17 p. |