The influence of intelligence on the endorsement of the intelligence–attractiveness halo
Date
06/2016Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
While some theories emphasize the influence of the ‘attractiveness halo’ on perceptions of intelligence, empirical evidence suggests that perceptions of attractiveness themselves can be influenced by perceptions of other desired traits such as intelligence. In an educational context, the effect of impressions of intelligence on teachers' expectations of students gives them particular significance. Research on kin selection and cognitive biases highlight the possibility that intelligent people endorse the intelligence–attractiveness relationship more strongly than less intelligent people. We investigated how a perceiver's intelligence can influence the association between perceived intelligence and attractiveness of others. We asked 126 participants to rate 48 children's faces for perceived intelligence and attractiveness and then asked them to complete the International Cognitive Ability Resource (ICAR) intelligence test. Ratings by participants who scored higher on the intelligence test showed a stronger relationship between perceptions of intelligence and attractiveness than participants who scored lower on the intelligence test. This effect was significant even after controlling for differences in participants' scale use. These findings, while preliminary, illuminate an individual difference that influences perceptions of intelligence with potentially concerning implications regarding expectancy effects in educational settings.
Citation
Talamas , S N , Mavor , K I & Perrett , D I 2016 , ' The influence of intelligence on the endorsement of the intelligence–attractiveness halo ' , Personality and Individual Differences , vol. 95 , pp. 162 - 167 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.02.053
Publication
Personality and Individual Differences
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0191-8869Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.02.053
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