Consequences of Beauty: Effects of Rater Sex and Sexual Orientation on the Visual Exploration and Evaluation of Attractiveness in Real World Scenes

Autor(en)

Aleksandra Mitrovic, Pablo Tinio, Helmut Leder

Abstrakt

One of the key behavioral effects of attractiveness is increased visual attention to attractive people. This effect is often explained in terms of evolutionary adaptations, such as attractiveness being an indicator of good health. Other factors could influence this effect. In the present study, we explored the modulating role of sexual orientation on the effects of attractiveness on exploratory visual behavior. Heterosexual and homosexual men and women viewed natural -looking scenes that depicted either two women or two men who varied systematically in levels of attractiveness (based on a pre study). Participants' eye movements and attractiveness ratings toward the faces of the depicted people were recorded. The results showed that although attractiveness had the largest influence on participants' behaviors, participants' sexual orientations strongly modulated the effects. With the exception of homosexual women, all participant groups looked longer and more often at attractive faces that corresponded with their sexual orientations. Interestingly, heterosexual and homosexual men and homosexual women looked longer and more often at the less attractive face of their non -preferred sex than the less attractive face of their preferred sex, evidence that less attractive faces of the preferred sex might have an aversive character. These findings provide evidence for the important role that sexual orientation plays in guiding visual exploratory behavior and evaluations of the attractiveness of others.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Psychologie der Kognition, Emotion und Methoden

Externe Organisation(en)

Montclair State University, City University of New York

Journal

Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Band

10

Seiten

122

Anzahl der Seiten

10

ISSN

1662-5161

DOI

https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2016.00122

Publikationsdatum

03-2016

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

501001 Allgemeine Psychologie, 501011 Kognitionspsychologie

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology, Neurology, Psychiatry and Mental health, Biological Psychiatry, Behavioral Neuroscience

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/5fd24b37-5c71-4d2e-98eb-881f1c0f9fbb