THE EFFECTS OF GLASSES AND WEIGHT ON PERCEPTIONS OF ATTRACTIVENESS AND INTELLIGENCE

The present study examined the effects of glasses and weight on rating s of attractiveness and intelligence. Subjects rated a head-and-should ers picture on a 37-item semantic differential scale. Whereas previous studies on interpersonal perception had used different individuals as stimuli, this investigation used on stimulus person: Weight was manip ulated using a computer program that altered the picture of the stimul us person. Results support previous findings that glasses and increase d weight decrease perceived attractiveness. However, ratings of intell igence were not affected by glasses and/or weight.