If you exhibit positive traits such as honesty and helpfulness, the chances are that you will be perceived as a good looking person, for a new study has found that the perception of physical attractiveness is influenced by a person's personality.
The study, led by Gary W. Lewandowski, Jr, found that people who exhibit negative traits, such as unfairness and rudeness, appear to be less physically attractive to observers.
In the study, the participants viewed photographs of opposite-sex individuals and rated them for attractiveness before and after being provided with information on personality traits.
After personality information was received, participants also rated the desirability of each individual as a friend and as a dating partner.
Information on personality was found to significantly alter perceived desirability, showing that cognitive processes modify judgments of attractiveness.
"Perceiving a person as having a desirable personality makes the person more suitable in general as a close relationship partner of any kind," said Lewandowski.
The findings show that a positive personality leads to greater desirability as a friend, which leads to greater desirability as a romantic partner and, ultimately, to being viewed as more physically attractive.
The findings remained consistent regardless of how "attractive" the individual was initially perceived to be, or of the participants' current relationship status or commitment level with a partner.
What would you think of this lady's physical attractiveness if she exhibited bad personal traits?
"This research provides a more positive alternative by reminding people that personality goes a long way toward determining your attractiveness; it can even change people's impressions of how good looking you are," said Lewandowski.
托福閱讀材料譯文
如果你表現(xiàn)出誠(chéng)實(shí)和樂(lè)于助人等美好品質(zhì)，那么別人會(huì)覺(jué)得你的外表也很迷人。一項(xiàng)最新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，一個(gè)人的性格會(huì)影響別人對(duì)他或她的外表吸引力的看法。
該項(xiàng)由蓋里 W 勒萬(wàn)多 維斯基負(fù)責(zé)的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，人們認(rèn)為，表現(xiàn)出不誠(chéng)實(shí)和粗魯?shù)葠毫悠焚|(zhì)的人外表也不夠吸引人。
研究對(duì)象首先觀看了一組異性的照片，隨后分別在得知照片中人物的性格特點(diǎn)之前和之后給他們的外表評(píng)分。
研究對(duì)象在得知照片中人物的性格特點(diǎn)后，還對(duì)與其中每個(gè)人交朋友或做戀人的期望值進(jìn)行了評(píng)分。
研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，有關(guān)人物性格特點(diǎn)的信息大大改變了之前的喜好度評(píng)分，研究對(duì)象的認(rèn)知過(guò)程改變了他們對(duì)照片中人物外表的評(píng)價(jià)。
勒萬(wàn)多 維斯基說(shuō)：“總的來(lái)說(shuō)，如果人們認(rèn)為一個(gè)人的性格較好，那么他們會(huì)覺(jué)得無(wú)論與這個(gè)人做朋友還是做戀人都更合適�！�
研究結(jié)果表明，人們更期望與性格較好的人交朋友、成為戀人，從而會(huì)認(rèn)為他們的外表更迷人。
無(wú)論照片中人物給人的“第一印象”怎樣、或者研究對(duì)象目前的情感關(guān)系狀況以及與伴侶的親密程度如何，研究結(jié)果都是一致的。
