Physical attractiveness, social connectedness, and individuality: an autophotographic study

In a sample of 125 college students, the author tested the hypothesis that, relative to less attractive peers, the physically attractive participants would depict greater social connectedness in self-descriptive photo essays. To document discriminant validity, the author also hypothesized that the correlation between physical-attractiveness ratings and the richness (i.e., individuality ratings) of photo essays would be near zero. The results confirmed both predictions and supported the convergent and discriminant validity of information from autophotographic essays. Thus, the attractive participants depicted themselves as very socially connected; however, they were neither more conventional-superficial nor more individualistic-creative than their less attractive peers in their photo essays.