Examining the "attractiveness halo effect" across cultures

Research has found that attractiveness has a positive "halo effect", where people tend to attribute socially desirable personality traits to physically attractive individuals. Several studies have documented this "attractiveness halo effect", with most research using western samples. This study sought to examine the "attractiveness halo effect" across 45 countries in 11 world regions. Data was collected through the Psychological Science Accelerator and participants were asked to rate 120 faces on one of several traits. Results showed that attractiveness correlated positively with most of the socially desirable personality traits. More specifically, across all 11 world regions, male and female faces rated as more attractive were rated as more confident, emotionally stable, intelligent, responsible, sociable, and trustworthy. These findings, thus, provide evidence that the "attractiveness halo effect" can be found cross-culturally.