Physical Attractiveness and Sex-Role Stereotypes in Impression Formation

The effects of physical attractiveness and sexual identity upon attributions had yet to be addressed within a single paradigm. 40 male and 40 female subjects rated the performance of a physically attractive or unattractive male or female depicted in a photograph on modified versions of the sex-typed tasks employed by Deaux and Emswiller (1974). Results indicated “beauty-is-good” effects for both general trait ratings and specific attributions of performance but failed to indicate an anti-female bias in subjects' attributions.