The DOI matches its Crossref record; 299 of the 299 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Maxims or myths of beauty? A meta-analytic and theoretical review
Abstract
Common maxims about beauty suggest that attractiveness is not important in life. In contrast, both fitness-related evolutionary theory and socialization theory suggest that attractiveness influences development and interaction. In 11 meta-analyses, the authors evaluate these contradictory claims, demonstrating that (a) raters agree about who is and is not attractive, both within and across cultures; (b) attractive children and adults are judged more positively than unattractive children and adults, even by those who know them; (c) attractive children and adults are treated more positively than unattractive children and adults, even by those who know them; and (d) attractive children and adults exhibit more positive behaviors and traits than unattractive children and adults. Results are used to evaluate social and fitness-related evolutionary theories and the veracity of maxims about beauty.
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“Physical attractiveness is one of the most powerful demographic variables known to science (Langlois et al., 2000), and it is substantially genetic (Gangestad & Scheyd, 2005).”
From A process-based approach to psychological diagnosis and treatment:The conceptual and treatment utility of an extended evolutionary meta model (2020) · cites this paper as Langlois et al., 2000
Citations
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Cited by
The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior
Yee, N., & Bailenson, J. (2007) · Human Communication Research · doi:10.1111/j.1468-2958.2007.00299.x · Cited by 2,126
“Given that attractive individuals have higher confidence (Langlois et al., 2000), we hypothesized that”
BackgroundInfluentialThe Evolutionary Psychology of Facial Beauty
Rhodes, G. (2006) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190208 · Cited by 1,750
“Agreement about which faces are attractive not only occurs between men and women, but also between people from different cultures (e.g., Langlois et al. 2000).”
BackgroundInfluentialGenes, evolution, and personality
Bouchard, T. J., & Loehlin, J. C. (2001) · Behavior Genetics · doi:10.1023/a:1012294324713 · Cited by 1,085
Facial attractiveness: evolutionary based research
Little, A. C., Jones, B. C., & DeBruine, L. M. (2011) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2010.0404 · Cited by 1,010
Formidability and the logic of human anger
Sell, A., Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (2009) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0904312106 · Cited by 825
“Indeed, it is widely documented that more weight is placed on the welfare of attractive people: They are paid more (19), are more likely to be hired for managerial positions (20), are more likely to be elected to public office (21), are given lighter sentences (22, 23), and are viewed more favorably (24).”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Langlois, J. H., Kalakanis, L., Rubenstein, A. J., Larson, A., Hallam, M., & Smoot, M.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Venue
- Psychological Bulletin
- Published
- 2000
- Volume
- 126
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 390-423
- ISSN
- 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1455
- OpenAlex
- W2088165831
- Cited by
- 2,429
- References
- 297
- Citations by year
- 2026: 84 · 2025: 105 · 2024: 111 · 2023: 131 · 2022: 116 · 2021: 148 · 2020: 127 · 2019: 131 · 2018: 132 · 2017: 118 · 2016: 126 · 2015: 135 · 2014: 121 · 2013: 129 · 2012: 138
- FWCI
- 20.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD021332)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Aesthetic Perception and Analysis
- Keywords
- physical attractiveness, beauty, attractiveness judgments, evolutionary psychology, socialization theory
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Animals, Beauty, Child, Biological Evolution, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Self Concept, Social Behavior, Social Perception
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Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
