Introduction The overall fashion in college students today displays an effortless and very casual look—the messier their hair, the more layers of clothing and the more unlaced their shoes the better. Ironically, college students are preparing to become professionals, yet their attire would say otherwise. Realistically, appearance, as well as other characteristics, will change when transitioning from a college graduate to a professional in the work force. The purpose of this study was to see if college students perceived a woman dressed professionally differed from the same woman dressed effortlessly, or sloppy.

Eighty-one percent agree that personal appearance is highly valued (Easterling, C. R., Leslie, J. E., & Jones, M. A. 1992) Men were significantly more likely to lend a dime to a neatly dressed woman, compared to a sloppy dressed woman (Kleinke, C. L. 1977) Participants were more likely to express physical, social, sexual, and psychological issues with a doctor who is dressed professionally (Rehman, S. U., Nietert, P. J., Cope, D. W., & Kilpatrick, A. O. 2005)

In addition to the Big Five, we added five questions focused on professionalism. We measured participants’ memory by asking them to list as many characteristics after the photo was removed. We predicted the more professionally dressed photo would be perceived as more dependable, conventional, successful, trust worthy and timely, as well as memorable in comparison to the casually dressed photo.

Professionalv.

Casual

ParticipantsThese participants were randomly assigned and conveniently selected males and females (14 males and 38 females) ranging from the ages of 17 to 32. The mean age of participants was 20.73 (SD= 3.52).

ResultsAn independent t test with alpha set at .05 was used to determine if there was a difference in the perception of timeliness between the professionally dressed photo and the casually dressed photo. Results suggested that there was a difference between the perceptions of timeliness, t (50) =5.831, p=.000. Research suggested there was a difference in the perception of how successful the person in the picture was. Results suggested that there was a difference in the perception successfulness, t (50) = 9.066, p= .000.

There was a difference in the perceived age of the person dressed professionally and the person dressed casually. Results suggested there was a difference in the perception of age, t (50) = 1.337, p= .000.

A two-way ANOVA suggested there was a difference in the perceived emotional stability of the person dressed professionally and the person dressed casually. Results suggested that there was a difference in the perception of emotional stability, t (50) = 2.784, p=0.008.

ConclusionsIt was statistically suggested that there was a difference in the memorability of the photos between men and women. Results suggested that women remembered more characteristics from the photo than men, t (50) =2.168, p=.035.

These results highlight a disturbing trend emerging in obesity research. While non-white college students have higher BMI, they perceive their weight as lower than it actually is, and are less likely to exercise to lose weight. Studies of interventions aimed at long term weight loss show the difficulty of maintaining long term weight loss, and that exercise can increase sustained weight loss as much as 20% (Curioni & Lourencio, 2005). Non-white participants did not report a desire to lose weight or an active effort to lose weight at greater levels than the thinner white control group. Those non-white participants actively trying to lose weight tended to use diet but not exercise which is less effective than diet and exercise together . Future interventions must focus on raising the exercise levels of at-risk populations.

ReferencesCurioni, C. C., & Lourençio, P. M. (2005). Long-term weight loss after diet and exercise: A

systematic review. International Journal of Obesity, 29, 1168-1174. Davidson, M. & Knafl, K. A. (2006). Dimensional analysis of the concept of obesity.

Journal of Advanced Nursing, 54, 342-350. Gittlesohn, J., Harris, S. B., Thorne-Lyman, A. L., Hanley, A. J. G., Barnie, A., & Zinman,

B. (1996). Body image concepts differ by age and sex in an Ojibway-Cree community in Canada. Journal of Nutrition, 126, 2990-3000.

 Kozak, D., Kraus, S., Lomayma, M., Seumptewa, J. & Massengill, C. (2003). Body mass IMAGE (the other BMI): Qualitative implications for a quantitative measure. Society for Applied Anthropology Annual Conference.

 National Institutes of Health (1998). Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults. The evidence report. Obesity Research, 51S–209S.

 Olson, B. (1999). Developing diabetes education and prevention programs in American Indian cultures. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 23, 185-203.

The data suggested that there was a difference in the perceived conscientiousness of the person dressed professionally and the person dressed casually. Results suggested that there was a difference in the perception of conscientiousness, t (50) = 7.260, p=.000.

The Impact of Appearance on Memory and PerceptionSue Kraus & Ava Santos

Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado

Introduction

Physical attractiveness is an important aspect in our social world. It has been demonstrated that those who are more attractive tend to have higher self esteem (Miller & Downey, 1999), have advantages in competition for mates (Weeden & Sabini, 2007) and jobs (Hosoda, Stone-Romero, & Coats, 2003). While body image research is quite common in the psychological literature , much of it focuses on white, female subjects.

The need for more research on body image perception among non-whites has been noted (Gittlesohn, Harris, Thorne-Lyman, Hanley, Barnie, & Zinman, 1996) and some contributions made. For example, health and attractiveness are associated with heavier bodies in Native populations around the world (Olson, 1999). Demarest and Allen (2000) suggest that gender influences ratings of attractiveness. Women thought men found thinner women more attractive, while men preferred the women who are at a healthy weight. Research by Glynn and Kraus (2007) suggests that body size of the perceiver may also affect ratings of attractiveness.

This study examined the complex effect of ethnicity, gender and body size on perceptions of attractiveness of male and female silhouettes which varied in body size.

MethodsParticipants

•112 Fort Lewis College undergraduate students•66 female and 47 males•75 white, and 37 non-white (62% Native American, 24% Hispanic) •Ages ranged from 19 to 49 with a mean age of 23.34 (SD=4.66).

ResultsFemale Figures Non-white participants rated the slim but healthy female figures 2 and 3 lower than did white participants F(1,99)= 9.74, p = .002, and F(1,99)= 9.39, p=.003 respectively, and the most obese figure as more attractive than did white participants F(1,99) = 6.49, p = .01.

Males rated figure 3, the heavier healthy body weight, as more attractive than did females F(1,99) = 4.63, p=.03, and the most obese figures as less attractive than did female participants F(1,99)= 5.96, p = .02 for figure 8 and F(1,99)= 4.87, p=.03 for figure 9. This pattern was similar for perceptions of male figures.

Male FiguresThe heaviest male figures were rated as more attractive by non white participants F(1,95) = 4.27, p = .04 for figure 8, F(1,95) = 3.85, p= .05 for figure 9.

Body weight of the participants affected ratings for male figure 4, the first overweight figure F(1, 94) = 5.03, p= .03. Overweight participants rated this figure lower than normal weight participants. This pattern was also true for figure 5 F(1, 95)= 7.00, p=.01, figure 6 F(1,95) = 9.46, p= .003, and figure 7 F(1, 95)=4.25, p=.04.

Conclusions Given the growth in both obesity levels and cultural

diversity within the United States, understanding the effect these variables on perceptions of attractiveness is increasingly important. As Olson (1999) suggested, ethnicity affected ratings of attractiveness. Non-white participants rated heavier body types as more attractive than did White subjects. Male participants found thinner bodies more attractive than heavier bodies for both male and female targets.

These data suggest that culture, gender and body weight each play a role in perceptions of body size and attractiveness.

ReferencesDemarest, J. & Allen, R. (2000). Body image: Gender, ethnic, and age differences.

Journal of Social Psychology, 140, 465-472.Gittlesohn, J., Harris, S. B., Thorne-Lyman, A. L., Hanley, A. J. G., Barnie, A., & Zinman,

B. (1996). Body image concepts differ by age and sex in an Ojibway-Cree community in Canada. Journal of Nutrition, 126, 2990-3000.

Glynn, C. & Kraus, S. (2007). The effect of body mass index on perceived attractiveness. Poster presented at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Denver, CO.

Hosoda, M., Stone-Romero, E. F. & Coats, G. (2003). The effects of physical attractiveness on job-related outcomes: A meta-analysis of experimental studies.  Personnel Psychology, 56, 431-462.

Miller, C. T. & Downey, K. T. (1999). A meta-analysis of heavyweight and self-esteem.   Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3, 68-84.

Olson, B. (1999). Developing diabetes education and prevention programs in American Indian cultures. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 23, 185-203.

Weeden, J. & Sabini, J. (2007). Subjective and objective measures of attractiveness and their relation to sexual behavior and sexual attitudes in university students. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36, 79-88.

 

The Effect of Ethnicity, Gender and Body Weight on Perceptions of Physical AttractivenessSue Kraus & Crystal Glynn Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado

2X2X2 IV Design

Male Female

Normal weight

Overweight

Normal Weight

OverWeight

White

Non- white

ff1 ff2 ff3 ff4 ff5 ff6 ff7 ff8 ff9

0

2

4

6 whitenonwhite

DV: Rate the attractiveness of each figure1= Very Unattractive7= Very Attractive

ff1 ff2 ff3 ff4 ff5 ff6 ff7 ff8 ff9

0123456 male

female

MF1

MF2

MF3

MF4

MF5

MF6

MF7

MF8

MF9

0

2

4

6 white

nonwhite

MF1

MF2

MF3

MF4

MF5

MF6

MF7

MF8

MF9

0

2

4

6normal weight

over weight