When What Is Beautiful Is Not Good: The Role of Trait Self-Control in Resisting Eye Candy

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Personality Psychology

Background:

• Physical attractiveness is a primary factor in initial relationship interest.
• The role of individual traits, such as self-control, in moderating this attraction is less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how trait self-control influences relationship interest in physically attractive individuals.
• To explore whether other personality traits (Big 5, self-esteem, attachment styles) affect relationship interest.

Main Methods:

• Multiple studies were conducted to assess participants' self-control levels.
• Participants' interest in relationships with physically attractive others, varying in self-control, was measured.
• Exploratory analyses examined other personality correlates.

Main Results:

• Individuals with high self-control consistently avoided pursuing relationships with attractive individuals exhibiting low self-control.
• This pattern was also observed for conscientiousness, extraversion, and positivity embracement.
• Perceiver's self-control significantly shaped relationship interest, especially when attractive individuals had undesirable traits.

Conclusions:

• Trait self-control is a key factor in directing relationship interest, potentially overriding the influence of physical attractiveness.
• Self-control influences initial relationship formation by guiding partner selection beyond superficial qualities.
• Findings expand on attractiveness research, highlighting self-control's role in relationship initiation.