Abstract

This experiment was performed to determine whether people make decisions about others based on their appearance and/of how interesting they are. To perform this study the researchers first recruited participants from the Lindenwood Participant Pool. For the experiment the researchers showed the participants a slide show with pictures of the models, read a question followed by reading the model’s response to the question. The model’s response was based on her personality, whether it is interesting or uninteresting. After the slide show was shown to the participants they were handed a survey consisting of two rating scales, one for attractiveness and one for interestingness, an ordered rank scale for whom they would most like to get to know, whether the participants knew any of the models and demographic questions such as age, gender, and class rank. The results showed that the interesting/attractive model was picked first more than any other model and the interesting/unattractive model was picked the second most. All four combinations of models how a positive correlation with unattractive/interesting (r=.515) model and uninteresting/unattractive (r=.775) model showing the strongest relationship.

Recommended Citation

Fetsch, Amber and Jalinsky, Jake (2010) "How Shallow Are We?," Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal: Vol. 1: Iss. 12, Article 4.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/psych_journals/vol1/iss12/4