The Cultural Grounding of Personal Relationship: The Importance of Attractiveness in Everyday Life

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Volumn 95, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 352-368

  Anderson, Stephanie L ^a   Adams, Glenn ^a   Plaut, Victoria C ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA   (United States)

Author keywords

attraction; culture; life outcomes; personal relationship; physical attractiveness

Indexed keywords

ADULT; ARTICLE; CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY; CULTURAL FACTOR; ESTHETICS; FEMALE; GENDER IDENTITY; GHANA; HUMAN; HUMAN RELATION; MALE; PERCEPTION; PERSONALITY; QUESTIONNAIRE; SELF CONCEPT; UNITED STATES;

ADULT; BEAUTY; CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON; CULTURE; FEMALE; GENDER IDENTITY; GHANA; HUMANS; INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS; MALE; PERSONALITY; QUESTIONNAIRES; SELF CONCEPT; SOCIAL PERCEPTION; UNITED STATES;

EID: 58149126065     PISSN: 00223514     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.95.2.352     Document Type: Article

References (75)

1. Adams G. The cultural grounding of personal relationship: Enemyship in North American and West African worlds. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 88 (2005) 948-968
2. Adams G., Anderson S.L., and Adonu J.K. The cultural grounding of closeness and intimacy. In: Mashek D.J., and Aron A. (Eds). The handbook of closeness and intimacy (2004), Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ 321-339
3. Adams G., and Dzokoto V.A. Self and identity in African studies. Self and Identity 2 (2003) 345-359
4. Adams G., and Markus H.R. Toward a conception of culture suitable for a social psychology of culture. In: Schaller M., and Crandall C.S. (Eds). The psychological foundations of culture (2004), Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ 335-360
5. Adams G., and Plaut V.C. The cultural grounding of personal relationship: Friendship in North American and West African worlds. Personal Relationships 10 (2003) 333-347
6. Adams G., and Salter P.S. Health psychology in African settings: A cultural-psychological analysis. Journal of Health Psychology 12 (2007) 539-551
7. Aguilar M.I. Localized kin and globalized friends: Religious modernity and the "educated self" in East Africa. In: Bell S., and Coleman S. (Eds). The anthropology of friendship (1999), Berg, Oxford, UK 169-184
8. Appiah K.A. In my father's house: Africa and the philosophy of culture (1992), Oxford University Press, New York
9. Arnett J.J. The psychology of globalization. American Psychologist 57 (2002) 774-783
10. Baumeister R.F., and Leary M.R. The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin 117 (1995) 497-529
11. Beggs J., Haines V., and Hurlbert J. Revisiting the rural-urban contrast: Personal networks in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan settings. Rural Sociology 61 (1996) 306-325
12. Buss D.M. Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 12 (1989) 1-49
13. Buss D.M., Abbott M., Angleitner A., Asherian A., Biaggio A., Blanco-Villasenor A., et al. International preferences in selecting mates: A study of 37 cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 21 (1990) 5-47
14. Carrier J.G. People who can be friends: Selves and social relationships. In: Bell S., and Coleman S. (Eds). The anthropology of friendship (1999), Berg, Oxford, UK 21-38
15. Chen N.Y., Shaffer D.R., and Wu C. On physical attractiveness stereotyping in Taiwan: A revised sociocultural perspective. Journal of Social Psychology 137 (1997) 117-124
16. Cross S.E., and Madson L. Models of the self: Self-construal theory and gender. Psychological Bulletin 122 (1997) 5-37
17. Cunningham M.R., Roberts A.R., Barbee A.P., Druen P.B., and Wu C.-H. "Their ideas of beauty are, on the whole, the same as ours": Consistency and variability in the cross-cultural perception of female physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 68 (1995) 261-279
18. Dion K.K. Young children's stereotyping of facial attractiveness. Developmental Psychology 9 (1973) 183-188
19. Dion K.K. Stereotyping based on physical attractiveness: Issues and conceptual perspectives. In: Herman C.P., Zanna M.P., and Higgins E.T. (Eds). Physical appearance, stigma, and social behavior: The Ontario Symposium on Personality and Social Psychology 3 (1986), Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ 7-21
20. Dion K., Berscheid E., and Walster E. What is beautiful is good. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 24 (1972) 285-290
21. Dion K.K., Pak A.W.-P., and Dion K.L. Stereotyping physical attractiveness: A sociocultural perspective. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 21 (1990) 158-179
22. Eagly A.H., Ashmore R.D., Makhijani M.G., and Longo L.C. What is beautiful is good, but...: A meta-analytic review of research on the physical attractiveness stereotype. Psychological Bulletin 110 (1991) 109-128
23. Edoro, A., Adams, G., & Anderson, S. L. (2007). "Fear Woman": Gender and representations of attractiveness in Onitsha Market literature. Unpublished manuscript.
24. Feingold A. Gender differences in effects of physical attractiveness on romantic attraction: A comparison across five research paradigms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 59 (1990) 981-993
25. Feingold A. Good-looking people are not what we think. Psychological Bulletin 111 (1992) 304-341
26. Ferme M.C. The underneath of things: Violence, history, and the everyday in Sierra Leone (2001), University of California Press, Berkeley, CA
27. Fink B., and Penton-Voak I. Evolutionary psychology of facial attractiveness. Current Directions in Psychological Science 11 (2002) 154-158
28. Fischer C.S. To dwell among friends: Personal networks in town and city (1982), University of Chicago Press, Chicago
29. Fiske A.P. Relativity within Moose ("Mossi") culture: Four incommensurable models for social relationships. Ethos 18 (1990) 180-204
30. Fiske A.P. Structures of social life: The four elementary forms of human relations. Communal sharing, authority ranking, equality matching, market pricing (1991), Free Press, New York
31. Fortes M. Kinship and marriage among the Ashanti. In: Radcliffe-Brown A.R., and Forde D. (Eds). African systems of kinship and marriage (1950), Oxford University Press, London 252-284
32. Frayser S.G. Varieties of sexual experience: An anthropological perspective on human sexuality (1985), Human Relations Area Files Press, New Haven, CT
33. Ghimire D.J., Axinn W.G., Yabiku S.T., and Thornton A. Social change, premarital nonfamily experience, and spouse choice in an arranged marriage society. American Journal of Sociology 111 (2006) 1181-1218
34. Giddens A. Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age (1991), Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA
35. Goody J., and Goody E. The circulation of women and children in Northern Ghana. Man 2 (1967) 226-248
36. Handloff R.E. Prayers, amulets, and charms: Health and social control. African Studies Review 25 (1982) 185-194
37. Hong Y., Morris M.W., Chiu C.Y., and Benet-Martínez V. Multicultural minds: A dynamic constructivist approach to culture and cognition. American Psychologist 55 (2000) 709-720
38. Iyengar S.S., and Lepper M.R. Choice and its consequences: On the costs and benefits of self-determination. In: Tesser A., Stapel D.A., and Wood J.V. (Eds). Self and motivation: Emerging psychological perspectives (2002), American Psychological Association, Washington, DC 71-96
39. Kim H.S., and Sherman D.K. "Express Yourself": Culture and the effect of self-expression on choice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 92 (2007) 1-11
40. Kitayama S., Snibbe A.C., Markus H.R., and Suzuki T. Is there any "free" choice? Cognitive dissonance in two cultures. Psychological Science 15 (2004) 527-533
41. Kyei K.G., and Schreckenbach H. No time to die (1975), Catholic Press, Accra, Ghana
42. Langlois J.H., Kalakanis L., Rubenstein A.J., Larson A., Hallam M., and Smoot M. Maxims or myths of beauty? A meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin 126 (2000) 390-423
43. Markus H.R., and Kitayama S. Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review 98 (1991) 224-253
44. Markus H.R., and Kitayama S. Models of agency: Sociocultural diversity in the construction of action. In: Murphy-Berman V., and Berman J. (Eds). The 49th annual Nebraska Symposium for motivation: Cross-cultural differences in perspectives on self (2004), University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE 1-57
45. Markus H.R., Mullally P., and Kitayama S. Selfways: Diversity in modes of cultural participation. In: Neisser U., and Jopling D. (Eds). The conceptual self in context: Culture, experience, self-understanding (1997), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK 13-61
46. Markus H.R., Ryff C.D., Curhan K.B., and Palmersheim K.A. In their own words: Well-being at midlife among high school-educated and college-educated adults. In: Brim O.G., Ryff C.D., and Kessler R.C. (Eds). How healthy are we?: A national study of well-being at midlife (2004), University of Chicago Press, Chicago 273-319
47. Mirande A.M. Extended kinship ties, friendship relations, and community size: An exploratory inquiry. Rural Sociology 35 (1970) 261-266
48. Murphy P.L., and Miller C.T. Postdecisional dissonance and the commodified self-concept: A cross-cultural examination. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 23 (1997) 50-62
49. Palisi B.J., and Ransford H.E. Friendship as a voluntary relationship: Evidence from national surveys. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 4 (1987) 243-259
50. Peletz M.G. Reason and passion: Representations of gender in a Malay society (1996), University of California Press, Berkeley, CA
51. Pike K.L. Language in relation to a unified theory of the structure of human behavior (1954), Summer Institute of Linguistics, Dallas, TX
52. Piot C. Remotely global: Village modernity in West Africa (1999), University of Chicago Press, Chicago
53. Plaut, V. C., Adams, G., & Anderson, S. L. (2007). Does attractiveness buy happiness? It depends on where you're from. Manuscript submitted for publication.
54. Plaut V.C., Markus H.R., and Lachman M.E. Place matters: Consensual features and regional variation in American well-being and self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 83 (2002) 160-184
55. Pots of promise: The beauty business. Economist 367 (2003, May 24) 69-71
56. Rhodes G. The evolutionary psychology of facial beauty. Annual Review of Psychology 57 (2006) 199-226
57. Riesman P. The person and the life cycle in African social life and thought. African Studies Review 29 (1986) 71-138
58. Rosenblatt P.C., and Cozby P.C. Courtship patterns associated with freedom of choice of spouse. Journal of Marriage and the Family 34 (1972) 689-695
59. Ryan R.M., and Deci E.L. Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist 55 (2000) 68-78
60. Said E. Orientalism (1978), Pantheon, New York
61. Sangrador J.L., and Yela C. "What is beautiful is loved": Physical attractiveness in love relationships in a representative sample. Social Behavior and Personality 28 (2000) 207-218
62. Schwartz B. The paradox of choice: Why more is less (2004), Harper Collins, New York
63. Sev'er A. Mate selection patterns of men and women in personal advertisements: New bottle, old wine. Atlantis: A Women's Studies Journal 15 (1990) 70-76. http://hdl.handle.net/1807/714 Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1807/714
64. Shaffer D.R., Crepaz N., and Sun C. Physical attractiveness stereotyping in cross-cultural perspective: Similarities and differences between Americans and Taiwanese. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 31 (2000) 557-582
65. Shaw R. "Tok af, lef af": A political economy of Temne techniques of secrecy and self. In: Karp I., and Masolo D.A. (Eds). African philosophy as cultural inquiry (2000), Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN 25-49
66. Smith S.M., McIntosh W.D., and Bazzini D.G. Are the beautiful good in Hollywood? An investigation of the beauty-and-goodness stereotype on film. Basic and Applied Social Psychology 21 (1999) 69-80
67. Snibbe A.C., and Markus H.R. You can't always get what you want: Educational attainment, agency, and choice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 88 (2005) 703-720
68. Stephan C.W., and Langlois J.H. Baby beautiful: Adult attributions of infant competence as a function of infant attractiveness. Child Development 55 (1984) 576-585
69. Tafarodi R.W., Mehranvar S., Panton R.L., and Milne A.B. Putting oneself in the task: Choice, personalization, and confidence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 28 (2002) 648-658
70. Tait D. The Konkomba of Northern Ghana (1961), Oxford University Press, London
71. Takyi B.K. Tradition and change in family and marital processes: Selecting a marital partner in modern Ghana. In: Hamon R.H., and Ingoldsby B.B. (Eds). Mate selection across cultures (2003), Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA 79-94
72. Vandello J.A., and Cohen D. Patterns of individualism and collectivism across the United States. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 77 (1999) 279-292
73. Wheeler L., and Kim Y. What is beautiful is culturally good: The physical attractiveness stereotype has different content in collectivistic cultures. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 23 (1997) 795-800
74. Wierzbicka A. Understanding cultures through their keywords: English, Russian, Polish, German, and Japanese (1997), Oxford University Press, New York
75. Zebrowitz L.A., Montepare J.M., and Lee H.K. They don't all look alike: Individuated impressions of other racial groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 65 (1993) 85-101