"Their ideas of beauty are, on the whole, the same as ours": Consistency and variability in the cross-cultural perception of female physical attractiveness.

TLDR

The study examined whether physical attractiveness ratings are consistent across cultural groups. The authors compared cross‑cultural ratings by having Asian, Hispanic, White, and Taiwanese participants rate photographs of women from multiple ethnicities, and by having Black and White American men rate Black female faces and bodies. Across studies, attractiveness ratings were highly correlated (r≈.93–.94) across cultures, with Asians and Taiwanese showing reduced sensitivity to sexual‑maturity and expressive cues, no effect of Western media exposure, and Black and White men differing in body judgments.

Abstract

The consistency of physical attractiveness ratings across cultural groups was examined. In Study 1, recently arrived native Asian and Hispanic students and White Americans rated the attractiveness of Asian, Hispanic, Black, and White photographed women. The mean correlation between groups in attractiveness ratings was r =.93. Asians, Hispanics, and Whites were equally influenced by many facial features, but Asians were less influenced by some sexual maturity and expressive features. In Study 2, Taiwanese attractiveness ratings correlated with prior Asian, Hispanic, and American ratings, mean r =.91. Supporting Study 1, the Taiwanese also were less positively influenced by certain sexual maturity and expressive features. Exposure to Western media did not influence attractiveness ratings in either study. In Study 3, Black and White American men rated the attractiveness of Black female facial photos and body types. Mean facial attractiveness ratings were highly correlated (r = .94), but as predicted Blacks and Whites varied in judging bodies