Beauty is More Than Skin Deep: Components of Attractiveness

This study examined the complex interrelationships among various static and dynamic components of physical attractiveness and their contributions to overall ratings of attractiveness and to the favorability of initial impressions. Two separate groups of undergraduate students completed a self-report measure of social and communication skills and were videotaped and photographed during initial encounters in a laboratory setting. The videotape segment or photographs were then shown to independent groups of judges who made multiple ratings of subjects' physical attractiveness, initial likability, and attractiveness as a dating partner. A series of structural equation models were fitted to the data. The model that provided the best fit to the data indicated that facial beauty and dynamic components of attractiveness were the most important contributors to overall evaluations of attractiveness, and that overall attractiveness in turn affected the positivity of initial impressions and desirability as a potential dating partner.