Date of Award
1-1-1980
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Counseling Psychology & Community Services
Abstract
The Problem
A theoretical framework of the physical attractiveness literature to date was presented in the present study. Within this framework, the effects of physical attractiveness on subjects' perception of adjustment were tested in an experimental design using 94 college students. The effects of subject empathy on subjects' perceptions were also tested as it had been suggested by a previous study (Crouse & Mehrabian 1977) that empathy mitigated the effects of physical attractiveness.
Four confederate actors whose physical attractiveness was varied cosmetically were used as ostensible "Peace Corps" applicants in individual 3-minute simulated interviews. A control group was established who were only exposed to the audio portion of the interview. The difference between the perception of confederate adjustment by the treatment and control groups was measured. Additionally, two ratings of subject attractiveness, judges' ratings and self-ratings, were used to assess the effects on subject adjustment scores.
Analysis
Data were analyzed separately according to the eight hypotheses presented in the study. Multivariate analysis of variance, two-way analysis of variance, independent and related t-tests were used as well as Pearson product moment correlations.
Results
Results of the study were not supportive of the theoretical framework as presented. No effects of physical attractiveness were found to influence subject perception of confederate adjustment. Nor was empathy found to be a mitigating variable.
Only one analysis of subject physical attractiveness and subject adjustment was found significant. Women of self-rated low physical attractiveness showed significantly higher scores on the Anxiety Scale. (Leventhal 1966) than women of self-rated high physical attractiveness. However, the results in this area must be viewed with caution as there was a disproportionate category assignment of subjects to low and high physical attractiveness both in self-ratings and ratings by judges. Discussion of the findings was organized according to the various parts of the proposed theory of physical attractiveness that were tested in the present study.
Physical Attractiveness Measurement.
Likert-type scaling makes use of rating scales whose lowest and highest numbers are designated by the researcher. The median is assumed to represent the medium level of value in rating assignments. However, in a study by Spreadbury and Reeves (1979) Likert-scale violations of the median level of subject self-ratings of physical attractiveness was found in the examination of their analysis procedure. Recommendations for further research were made in the present study concerning both the investigation of possible Likert-scale violations in past studies and the examination of category assignment size of high and low physical attractiveness among differing populations.
Social Value
In a previous study by Crouse and Mehrabian (1977) empathy was found to mitigate the effects of physical attractiveness. In the present study no such effects were found. Using a Carkhuff scale to measure empathy, Crouse and Mehrabian reported that women's empathy scores were twice as high as men's. In the present study an empathy measure was used, the Empathy Scale (Hogan 1968), which did not reflect this difference. A suggestion for further research was made concerning the measurement of the empathy construct specifically in the examination of sex differences.
Because no significant effects of physical attractiveness on subjects' perceptions of adjustment were found in the present study, it was suggested that "seriousness of outcome" may have acted as a mitigating variable.
Adjustment
The disproportionate “category assignment of subjects made the results in this area difficult to assess. Overall, however, the results did not support the hypotheses made in the present study concerning the relationship between subject attractiveness and adjustment.
Recommended Citation
Berg, Dorothy E., "The Effects Of Physical Attractiveness And Empathy On Adjustment And Perceived Adjustment With College Students." (1980). Theses and Dissertations. 8865.
https://commons.und.edu/theses/8865