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Photos of IS target persons posing happy, neutral, and sad facial expressions were rated for facial attractiveness using paired comparisons and Likert scales. Half the raters were instructed to compensate for the effects of facial expression. Paired comparisons and Likert ratings were highly correlated. Target persons were less attractive when posing sad expressions than when posing neutral or happy expressions, which did not differ. No effect of compensation instructions was found. In addition, independent ratings of four dimensions of the target persons' facial expression were obtained: pleasantness, surprise, intensity, and naturalness. Changes in these dimensions from the neutral to the happy and sad expressions and the corresponding changes in attractiveness were consistently related only to pleasantness supporting the reinforcement-affect theory of attraction. A second study related overall attractiveness to facial and bodily attractiveness. Both facial and bodily attractiveness were predictive of overall attractiveness, but the face was a slightly more powerful predictor. Results are discussed with respect to the stability of physical attractiveness, and alternative explanations of the mental-illness/physicalunattractiveness relation were proposed.
Mueser et al. (Wed,) studied this question.