Physical attractiveness and nurses' perceptions of pediatric patients.
This study investigated the effect of the physical attractiveness of pediatric patients on nurses' impressions. Sixty-six nurses answered questions about pediatric patients who were allegedly involved in a disturbance in a hospital. The patients who were rated varied in attractiveness. Nurses held a patient less personally responsible for the disturbance, attributed a patient's behavior to situational causes, and perceived the attending nurse as more responsible when the patient was highly attractive. In contrast, an unattractive patient was reported to have a higher probability of emotional problems. These findings are consistent with the work of Dion (1972).
D000328:Adult; D001504:Beauty; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004954:Esthetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology; D011897:Random Allocation; D012938:Social Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires