The Importance of Attraction in Everyday Life: The Cultural-Ecological Moderation Hypothesis in Consumer Context

Abstract

Research documents the importance of attraction in everyday life, such that life outcomes are more positive for good-looking people than less good-looking people. Theory and research in cultural psychology provide evidence that this relationship between appearance and outcomes varies as a function of cultural and ecological circumstances. In particular, the cultural-ecological moderation hypothesis suggests that engagement with cultural models that promote a construction of relationship as choice amplify the importance of attraction and attractiveness in everyday life. The present work tests this hypothesis by investigating the effect of consumerism context on judgments about life outcomes of people with good-looking and less good-looking appearance (appearance discrimination). In Study 1, appearance discrimination was greater among participants who completed measures in the presence of images depicting technology-related consumer products than participants in a non-consumer control condition. Results of Study 2 revealed no statistically significant variations in appearance effects as a function of experimental conditions. In Study 3, appearance discrimination in evaluations of personality traits was greater among older participants who completed the survey near a shopping mall (consumer context) than among older participants who completed the survey in a park (non-consumer context). Additionally, appearance discrimination in evaluation of anticipated life outcomes was greater among young participants than among older participants. Although results provide some evidence for the cultural-ecological moderation hypothesis, conclusive experimental evidence awaits further research.