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Published on: June 3, 2013
Recognition bias and the physical attractiveness stereotype
Jean-Christophe Rohner1, Anders Rasmussen
1Department of Psychology, Lund University, Sweden. jean-christophe.rohner@psychology.lu.se
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
|March 16, 2012
Summary
People tend to remember attractive individuals positively and unattractive individuals negatively, a bias consistent with the physical attractiveness stereotype (PAS). This study confirms this robust memory bias is generally replicable across various conditions.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
- Person Perception
Background:
- Previous research indicates a recognition bias favoring information aligned with the physical attractiveness stereotype (PAS).
- This bias leads individuals to recall attractive people as having positive traits and unattractive people as having negative traits, irrespective of actual presented information.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the replicability and generalizability of the recognition bias for PAS-congruent information.
- To determine if the physical attractiveness stereotype (PAS) recognition bias is invariant across different conditions.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted to test the robustness of the PAS recognition bias.
- The influence of nine distinct moderator variables on this bias was systematically examined.
Main Results:
- The recognition bias for information consistent with the physical attractiveness stereotype (PAS) was found to be largely independent of the tested moderator variables.
- With minor exceptions, the effect of PAS congruence on recognition bias remained consistent across conditions.
Conclusions:
- The tendency to perceive and remember information in line with the physical attractiveness stereotype (PAS) is a robust and generalizable phenomenon.
- This suggests a strong, pervasive cognitive bias in person perception and memory.
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