Infant preferences for attractive faces: Rudiments of a stereotype?

Authors

Judith H. Langlois
Lori A. Roggman, Utah State UniversityFollow
Rita J. Casey
Jean M. Ritter
Loretta A. Rieser-Danner
Vivian Y. Jenkins

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Developmental Psychology

Volume

23

Issue

3

Publisher

American Psychological Association

Publication Date

5-1987

First Page

363

Last Page

369

Abstract

Two studies, one with 2- to 3-month-olds and one with 6- to 8-month-olds, were conducted to examine infant preferences for attractive faces. A standard visual preference technique was used in which infants were shown pairs of color slides of the faces of adult women previously rated by other adults for attractiveness. The results showed that both the older and younger infants looked longer at attractive faces when the faces were presented in contrasting pairs of attractiveness (attractive/unattractive). When the faces were presented in pairs of similar levels of attractiveness (attractive/attractive vs. unattractive/unattractive) the older but not the younger infants looked longer at attractive faces. The results challenge the commonly held assumption that standards of attractiveness are learned through gradual exposure to the current cultural standard of beauty and are merely "in the eye of the beholder." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)

Comments

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Recommended Citation

Infant preferences for attractive faces: Rudiments of a stereotype? Langlois, Judith H.; Roggman, Lori A.; Casey, Rita J.; Ritter, Jean M.; Rieser-Danner, Loretta A.; Jenkins, Vivian Y. Developmental Psychology, Vol 23(3), May 1987, 363-369.