Infant preferences for attractive faces: Rudiments of a stereotype?

Langlois, Judith H., Roggman, Lori A., Casey, Rita J., Ritter, Jean M.·1987·Developmental Psychology
DOI 10.1037//0012-1649.23.3.363

Abstract

Two studies, one with 2- to 3-month-olds and one with 6- to 8-month-olds, were conducted to examine infant preferences for attractive faces. A standard visual preference technique was used in which infants were shown pairs of color slides of the faces of adult women previously rated by other adults for attractiveness. The results showed that both the older and younger infants looked longer at attractive faces when the faces were presented in contrasting pairs of attractiveness (attractive/unattractive). When the faces were presented in pairs of similar levels of attractiveness (attractive/attractive vs. unattractive/unattractive) the older but not the younger infants looked longer at attractive faces. The results challenge the commonly held assumption that standards of attractiveness are learned through gradual exposure to the current cultural standard of beauty and are merely "in the eye of the beholder." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)

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Cited by (16)

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  2. Beautiful Faces Have Variable Reward Value
    Aharon, Itzhak, Etcoff, Nancy, Ariely, Dan, Chabris, Christopher F, O'Connor, Ethan, Breiter, Hans C · 2001 · Neuron
  3. Adaptive significance of female physical attractiveness: role of waist-to-hip ratio
    Singh, Devendra · 1993 · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
  4. The Relationship Context of Human Behavior and Development
    Reis, Harry T., Collins, W. Andrew, Berscheid, Ellen · 2000 · Psychological Bulletin
  5. Interpersonal synchrony increases prosocial behavior in infants
    Cirelli, Laura K., Einarson, Kathleen M., Trainor, Laurel J. · 2014 · Developmental Science

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Infant preferences for attractive faces: Rudiments of a stereotype? https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1037//0012-1649.23.3.363
The paper
Langlois, J. H., Roggman, L. A., Casey, R. J., & Ritter, J. M. (1987). Infant preferences for attractive faces: Rudiments of a stereotype? Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037//0012-1649.23.3.363

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