title: More than just skin deep? Personality information influences men's ratings of the attractiveness of women's body sizes.
abstract: This study examined the influence of personality information on perceptions of the physical attractiveness of a range of female body sizes. A sample of 2,157 male university students were randomly assigned to one of 10 groups in which they received personality information about women they were rating, or a control group in which they received no personality information. Controlling for participants' age and body mass index, results showed no significant between-group differences in the body size that participants found most attractive. However, participants provided with positive personality information perceived a wider range of body sizes as physically attractive compared with the control group, whereas participants provided with negative personality information perceived a narrower range of body sizes as attractive. Correlations showed that participants' own Extraversion was associated with their body size ratings. These results suggest that non-physical cues have an influence on the perception of physical beauty.
authors.affiliation: University of Westminster, Department of Psychology, 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW, UK. v.swami@wmin.ac.uk
authors.forename: Viren
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Swami
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Furnham
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chamorro-Premuzic
authors.forename: Kanwal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Akbar
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Tasha
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Finch
authors.forename: Martin J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Tovée
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001504:Beauty; D049628:Body Size; D002755:Choice Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012928:Social Desirability; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult