Cultural Similarities in Beauty Perception

Universally, a few aspects of beauty are perceived similarly. The most widely researched beauty component seems to include symmetry. Bodily symmetry is the degree to which both sides of a body are equivalent. This is perceived as attractive throughout western and Indian cultures, as well as throughout other cultures from the results of extensive research. For example, Rhodes, Proffitt, Grady, and Sumich (1998) found that a higher level of symmetry in a face increases participants' ratings of its attractiveness. Also, Langlois and Roggman (1990) suggest that people from many cultures give consistency in their views of symmetrical faces being attractive. An experiment performed by Gangestad and Thornhill (as cited by Kenrick, Neuberg, and Cialdini, 2007), concluded that people with high degrees of symmetry even behaved differently than those with lower symmetry. They began participating in sexual behaviors earlier and they had more partners. The reason for this is because symmetry contributes to attractiveness, which leads to being desirable. This suggests that symmetry is perceived universally as biologically adaptive, indicating that one is attracted to a mate with healthy, appealing genes to produce offspring more fit to survive (Langlois & Roggman, 1990; Kenrick et al., 2007). It is said that the higher the symmetry, the higher the chance is of a strong immune system (Shiraev & Levy, 2010; Feng, 2002). Health is another universally accepted aspect of beauty, as most people relate health with surviving. Also, to go along with the biology of beauty, research suggests that universally, people tend to choose mates who posses a similar level of attractiveness (Kenrick et al, 2007).

Across cultures, expressions and behaviors can alter one's beauty. Positive facial expressions, gestures, and behaviors such as smiling, laughing, and helping can increase one's perception of beauty of another (Zebrowitz & Rhodes, as cited in Kenrick et al., 2007). When seeking relationships with others, people want a positive experience. These impressions may be cues to their internal affect.

The mere exposure effect is seen throughout cultures. The mere exposure effect states that the more frequently one is presented with a stimulus, the more positive one will feel about it. This may be the reason why celebrities, popular songs, paintings, etc. are perceived as beautiful. To focus on celebrities, they most likely have a high degree of symmetry in their appearance, and the fact that they are seen time after time in the media increases their chances of one perceiving them to be beautiful. In western societies, Angelina Jolie is considered beautiful. It may be because she is frequently portrayed positively in the media. In India, Aishwarya Rai is a reoccurring symbol of beauty. She is frequently seen and is a former Miss World of 1994.

This will be broken down in the discussion pertaining to differences among cultures, but generally speaking, across cultures women who are perceived to be the most beautiful by men are those with a smaller waist and larger hips because they are perceived to be more fertile and posses good health (Singh, as cited in Kenrick et al., 2007; Feng, 2002). In western societies and in India, most people are somewhat proportionate in height and weight, but this will be discussed in further detail.

A similarity specific to western and Indian cultures includes the portrayal of culturally beautiful women in both societies modeling in subordinate poses in magazines of their own cultures (Griffin, Vismanath, & Schwartz, cited as Frith, Shaw, & Cheng, 2005). These models tend to advertise in areas that their culture sees as acceptable, and they may be even more accepted because they are perceived as beautiful in their cultures.

References:

Feng, Charles (2002). Looking good: the psychology and biology of beauty. Journal of Young Investigators, 6.

Frith, Katherine, Shaw, Pink, & Cheng, Hong (2005). The connection of beauty: a cross-cultural analysis of women's magazine advertising. Journal of Communication, Retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy-tu.researchport.umd.edu/ehost/detail?vid=9&hid=103&sid=f3036a9d-1c1e-4e51-900c-fc359c03d02d%40sessionmgr113

Kenrick, D. T., Neuberg, S. L., & Cialdini, R. B. (2007). Social Psychology: Goals in Interaction (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Langlois, Judith H., & Roggman, Lori A. (1990). Attractive faces are only average. Association for Psychological Society, 1(2) 115-121.

Rhodes, Gillian, Proffitt, Fiona, Grady, Jonathon M., & Sumich, Alex (1998). Facial symmetry and the perception of beauty. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 5(4), 659-669. Retrieved from http://www.psychonomic.org/backissues/2139/R403.pdf

Shiraev, Eric B., & Levy, David A. (2010). Cross-Cultural Psychology: Critical Thinking and Contemporary Applications (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.