Bodily Attractiveness and Egalitarianism are Negatively Related in Males

Ancestrally, relatively attractive individuals and relatively formidable males may have had reduced incentives to be egalitarian (i.e., to act in accordance with norms promoting social equality). If selection calibrated one's egalitarianism to one's attractiveness/formidability, then such...

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Main Authors: Michael E. Price, Stuart Brown, Amber Dukes, Jinsheng Kang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2015-01-01
Series:Evolutionary Psychology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/147470491501300109
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spelling doaj-b8fb4f6ebc08463198cadad5a32a9b0e2020-11-25T03:43:55ZengSAGE PublishingEvolutionary Psychology1474-70492015-01-011310.1177/14747049150130010910.1177_147470491501300109Bodily Attractiveness and Egalitarianism are Negatively Related in MalesMichael E. PriceStuart BrownAmber DukesJinsheng KangAncestrally, relatively attractive individuals and relatively formidable males may have had reduced incentives to be egalitarian (i.e., to act in accordance with norms promoting social equality). If selection calibrated one's egalitarianism to one's attractiveness/formidability, then such people may exhibit reduced egalitarianism (“observed egalitarianism”) and be perceived by others as less egalitarian (“perceived egalitarianism”) in modern environments. To investigate, we created 3D body models of 125 participants to use both as a source of anthropometric measurements and as stimuli to obtain ratings of bodily attractiveness and perceived egalitarianism. We also measured observed egalitarianism (via an economic “dictator” game) and indices of political egalitarianism (preference for socialism over capitalism) and “equity sensitivity.” Results indicated higher egalitarianism levels in women than in men, and moderate-to-strong negative relationships between (a) attractiveness and observed egalitarianism among men, (b) attractiveness and perceived egalitarianism among both sexes, and (c) formidability and perceived egalitarianism among men. We did not find support for two previously-reported findings: that observed egalitarianism and formidability are negatively related in men, and that wealth and formidability interact to explain variance in male egalitarianism. However, this lack of support may have been due to differences in variable measurement between our study and previous studies.https://doi.org/10.1177/147470491501300109
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Michael E. Price
Stuart Brown
Amber Dukes
Jinsheng Kang
spellingShingle Michael E. Price
Stuart Brown
Amber Dukes
Jinsheng Kang
Bodily Attractiveness and Egalitarianism are Negatively Related in Males
Evolutionary Psychology
author_facet Michael E. Price
Stuart Brown
Amber Dukes
Jinsheng Kang
author_sort Michael E. Price
title Bodily Attractiveness and Egalitarianism are Negatively Related in Males
title_short Bodily Attractiveness and Egalitarianism are Negatively Related in Males
title_full Bodily Attractiveness and Egalitarianism are Negatively Related in Males
title_fullStr Bodily Attractiveness and Egalitarianism are Negatively Related in Males
title_full_unstemmed Bodily Attractiveness and Egalitarianism are Negatively Related in Males
title_sort bodily attractiveness and egalitarianism are negatively related in males
publisher SAGE Publishing
series Evolutionary Psychology
issn 1474-7049
publishDate 2015-01-01
description Ancestrally, relatively attractive individuals and relatively formidable males may have had reduced incentives to be egalitarian (i.e., to act in accordance with norms promoting social equality). If selection calibrated one's egalitarianism to one's attractiveness/formidability, then such people may exhibit reduced egalitarianism (“observed egalitarianism”) and be perceived by others as less egalitarian (“perceived egalitarianism”) in modern environments. To investigate, we created 3D body models of 125 participants to use both as a source of anthropometric measurements and as stimuli to obtain ratings of bodily attractiveness and perceived egalitarianism. We also measured observed egalitarianism (via an economic “dictator” game) and indices of political egalitarianism (preference for socialism over capitalism) and “equity sensitivity.” Results indicated higher egalitarianism levels in women than in men, and moderate-to-strong negative relationships between (a) attractiveness and observed egalitarianism among men, (b) attractiveness and perceived egalitarianism among both sexes, and (c) formidability and perceived egalitarianism among men. We did not find support for two previously-reported findings: that observed egalitarianism and formidability are negatively related in men, and that wealth and formidability interact to explain variance in male egalitarianism. However, this lack of support may have been due to differences in variable measurement between our study and previous studies.
url https://doi.org/10.1177/147470491501300109
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