title: The role of similarity and dissimilarity focus in sequential judgments of physical attractiveness.
abstract: The present results indicate that procedurally priming comparison focus can change the contrast effect in judgments of physical attractiveness (Kenrick & Gutierres, 1980). Participants were primed to search for similarities vs. differences between target and standard of comparison in a task using material irrelevant to the subsequent physical attractiveness judgment. Focusing participants on similarities testing produced the assimilation effect: evaluation of target and comparison standard as being similar. Focusing participants on dissimilarity testing produced the contrast effect: evaluating the target as different from the standard of comparison.
authors.affiliation: Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland. mcypryanska@swps.edu.pl
authors.forename: Marzena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cypryanska
authors.forename: Sylwia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bedynska
authors.forename: Agnieszka Golec
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: De Zavala
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012938:Social Perception; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult