Who would have thought it: true beauty ACTUALLY comes from within. What we know as old nurse’s wisdom, Chinese behavioral researchers have now also proven with a study. So a good character actually makes us more attractive.
So it really is true: our character influences our attractiveness. Chinese researchers have now come to this groundbreaking conclusion. In a study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, the scientists were able to prove that our personality influences our external impact on others.
How the researchers came to this result? For the study, 120 people, 60 men and 60 women, were divided into three groups. Even before the experiment, all participants rated 60 faces. Then, two weeks later, the participants rated the faces again, only this time, descriptions such as “mean,” “honest,” “polite” or “nast*” were also provided to the faces. The first group received only negative descriptions, while the second group received only positive descriptions. The last group did not receive any additional descriptions of the faces.
What came out of it? During the first evaluation of the faces, the persons in all three groups were evaluated similarly. But after the second round, when there were the descriptions to the faces, significant differences in the perception of the people could be found between the three groups. For example, people were rated as significantly more attractive by the group that received positive descriptions than by the group with the negative descriptions. The scientists call this effect the halo effect. This says that we project desirable traits onto a person’s attractiveness … which means that we usually find people we like attractive. So there’s no harm in being friendly!