Peterson Rolfe Daus, Palmer Carl L
1Susquehanna University.
2Illinois State University.
Politics Life Sci. 2017 Fall;36(2):3-16. doi: 10.1017/pls.2017.18.
Physical attractiveness is an important social factor in our daily interactions. Scholars in social psychology provide evidence that attractiveness stereotypes and the "halo effect" are prominent in affecting the traits we attribute to others. However, the interest in attractiveness has not directly filtered down to questions of political behavior beyond candidates and elites. Utilizing measures of attractiveness across multiple surveys, we examine the relationship between attractiveness and political beliefs. Controlling for socioeconomic status, we find that more attractive individuals are more likely to report higher levels of political efficacy, identify as conservative, and identify as Republican. These findings suggest an additional mechanism for political socialization that has further implications for understanding how the body intertwines with the social nature of politics.
身体吸引力是我们日常交往中一个重要的社会因素。社会心理学领域的学者提供的证据表明，吸引力刻板印象和“光环效应”在影响我们赋予他人的特质方面非常显著。然而，对吸引力的关注尚未直接延伸到候选人及精英之外的政治行为问题上。我们利用多项调查中的吸引力衡量指标，研究吸引力与政治信仰之间的关系。在控制了社会经济地位之后，我们发现更具吸引力的个体更有可能报告更高水平的政治效能感，认同保守派，并认同共和党。这些发现揭示了政治社会化的一种额外机制，这对于理解身体如何与政治的社会本质相互交织具有进一步的意义。
