According to a new research study, it depends on the person. Some people look in the mirror and think they are more attractive than they were a few years ago. Critics suggest this is due to changing trends, improved hairstyles or new fashions, but research to be published in the next issue of the Journal of European Social Psychology suggests this is a product of thinking patterns aimed at boosting self esteem.
Researchers studied groups of female undergraduate students and found that people who judged attractiveness to be related to their self-concept rated their past attractiveness lower than their current state. In the second part of the study, participants were asked to predict their future attractiveness i.e. in five years. The results revealed that ratings of future attractiveness were higher than current ratings, but only among individuals who frequently engage in social comparisons.
These findings suggest the self-esteem and thinking patterns influence the self-perceptions of beauty in some individuals. Certainly, these results are not surprising but offer some interesting insight into human behavior.
Posted by Dr. Jennifer Stagg on July 30, 2006 05:44 PM
