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Predictors of enhancing human physical attractiveness: Data from 93 countries

August 2022

Authors:

Marta Kowal

University of Wrocław

Piotr Sorokowski

University of Wrocław

Katarzyna Pisanski

Jaroslava Varella Valentova

University of São Paulo Institute of Psychology

Show all 179 authorsHide

People across the world and throughout history have gone to great lengths to enhance their physical appearance. Evolutionary psychologists and ethologists have largely attempted to explain this phenomenon via mating preferences and strategies. Here, we test one of the most popular evolutionary hypotheses for beauty-enhancing behaviors, drawn from mating market and parasite stress perspectives, in a large cross-cultural sample. We also test hypotheses drawn from other influential and non-mutually exclusive theoretical frameworks, from biosocial role theory to a cultural media perspective. Survey data from 93,158 human participants across 93 countries provide evidence that behaviors such as applying makeup or using other cosmetics, hair grooming, clothing style, caring for body hygiene, and exercising or following a specific diet for the specific purpose of improving ones physical attractiveness, are universal. Indeed, 99% of participants reported spending >10 min a day performing beauty-enhancing behaviors. The results largely support evolutionary hypotheses: more time was spent enhancing beauty by women (almost 4 h a day, on average) than by men (3.6 h a day), by the youngest participants (and contrary to predictions, also the oldest), by those with a relatively more severe history of infectious diseases, and by participants currently dating compared to those in established relationships. The strongest predictor of attractiveness-enhancing behaviors was social media usage. Other predictors, in order of effect size, included adhering to traditional gender roles, residing in countries with less gender equality, considering oneself as highly attractive or, conversely, highly unattractive, TV watching time, higher socioeconomic status, right-wing political beliefs, a lower level of education, and personal individualistic attitudes. This study provides novel insight into universal beauty-enhancing behaviors by unifying evolutionary theory with several other complementary perspectives.

Standardized time spent enhancing beauty across ages and gender (i.e., women and men).

…

Standardized time spent enhancing beauty across relationship status (i.e., single, dating, in a committed relationship, and married) and gender (i.e., women and men). Note. Error bars represent standard errors.

…

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Evolution and Human Behavior 43 (2022) 455–474

Available online 6 September 2022

Predictors of enhancing human physical attractiveness: Data from

93 countries

Marta Kowal

, Piotr Sorokowski

, Katarzyna Pisanski

, Jaroslava V. Valentova

Marco A.C. Varella

, David A. Frederick

, Laith Al-Shawaf

, Felipe E. García

Isabella Giammusso

, Biljana Gjoneska

, Luca Kozma

, Tobias Otterbring

Marietta Papadatou-Pastou

, Gerit Pfuhl

, Sabrina St¨

ockli

, Anna Studzinska

Ezgi Toplu-Demirtas

, Anna K. Touloumakos

, Bence E. Bakos

, Carlota Batres

Solenne Bonneterre

, Johanna Czamanski-Cohen

, Jovi C. Dacanay

, Eliane Deschrijver

Maryanne L. Fisher

, Caterina Grano

, Dmitry Grigoryev

, Pavol Kaˇ

cm´

Mikhail V. Kozlov

, Esio Manunta

, Karlijn Massar

, Joseph P. McFall

, Moises Mebarak

Maria Rosa Miccoli

, Taciano L. Milfont

, Pavol Prokop

, Toivo Aavik

Patrícia Arriaga

, Roberto Baiocco

, Jiˇ

rí ˇ

Cenˇ

, Hakan Çetinkaya

, Izzet Duyar

Farida Guemaz

, Tatsunori Ishii

, Julia A. Kamburidis

, Hareesol Khun-Inkeeree

Linda H. Lidborg

, Hagar Manor

, Ravit Nussinson

, Mohd Soan B. Omar-Fauzee

Farid Pazhoohi

, Koen Ponnet

, Anabela Caetano Santos

, Oksana Senyk

Ognen Spasovski

, Mona Vintila

, Austin H. Wang

, Gyesook Yoo

, Oulmann Zerhouni

Rizwana Amin

, Sibele Aquino

, Merve Bo˘

, Mahmoud Boussena

, Ali R. Can

Seda Can

, Rita Castro

, Antonio Chirumbolo

, Ogeday Çoker

, Cl´

ement Cornec

Seda Dural

, Stephanie J. Eder

, Nasim Ghahraman Moharrampour

, Simone Grassini

Evgeniya Hristova

, G¨

ozde Ikizer

, Nicolas Kervyn

, Mehmet Koyuncu

Yoshihiko Kunisato

, Samuel Lins

, Tetyana Mandzyk

, Silvia Mari

, Alan D.A. Mattiassi

Aybegum Memisoglu-Sanli

, Mara Morelli

, Felipe C. Novaes

, Miriam Parise

Irena Pavela Banai

, Mariia Perun

, Nejc Plohl

, Fatima Zahra Sahli

, Duˇ

sana ˇ

Sakan

Sanja Smojver-Azic

, Ça˘

glar Solak

, Sinem S¨

oylemez

, Asako Toyama

Anna Wlodarczyk

, Yuki Yamada

, Beatriz Abad-Villaverde

, Reza Afhami

, Grace Akello

Nael H. Alami

, Leyla Alma

, Marios Argyrides

, Derya Atamtürk

, Nana Burduli

Sayra Cardona

, Jo˜

ao Carneiro

, Andrea Casta˜

neda

, Izabela Chałatkiewicz

William J. Chopik

, Dimitri Chubinidze

, Daniel Conroy-Beam

, Jorge Contreras-Gardu˜

Diana Ribeiro da Silva

, Yahya B. Don

, Silvia Donato

, Dmitrii Dubrov

Michaela Duraˇ

ckov´

, Sanjana Dutt

, Samuel O. Ebimgbo

, Ignacio Estevan

Edgardo Etchezahar

, Peter Fedor

, Feten Fekih-Romdhane

, Tomasz Frackowiak

Katarzyna Galasinska

, Łukasz Gargula

, Benjamin Gelbart

, Talia Gomez Yepes

Brahim Hamdaoui

, Ivana Hromatko

, Salome N. Itibi

, Luna Jaforte

, Steve M.J. Janssen

Marija Jovic

, Kevin S. Kertechian

, Farah Khan

, Aleksander Kobylarek

Maida Koso-Drljevic

, Anna Krasnodębska

, Valerija Kriˇ

zani´

, Miguel Landa-Blanco

Alvaro Mailhos

, Tiago Marot

, Tamara Martinac Dorcic

, Martha Martinez-Ban

* Corresponding author.

E-mail address: marta7kowal@gmail.com (M. Kowal).

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Evolution and Human Behavior

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ens

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.08.003

Received 13 February 2022; Received in revised form 12 August 2022; Accepted 13 August 2022

Evolution and Human Behavior 43 (2022) 455–474

456

MatRahimi Yusof

, Marlon Mayorga-Lascano

, Vita Mikuliˇ

ci¯

ut˙

, Katarina Miˇ

seti´

Bojan Musil

, Arooj Najmussaqib

, Kavitha Nalla Muthu

, Jean C. Natividade

Izuchukwu L.G. Ndukaihe

, Ellen K. Nyhus

, Elisabeth Oberzaucher

, Salma S. Omar

Franciszek Ostaszewski

, Ma. Criselda T. Pacquing

, Ariela F. Pagani

, Ju Hee Park

Ekaterine Pirtskhalava

, Ulf-Dietrich Reips

, Marc Eric S. Reyes

, Jan P. R¨

oer

Ays

¸egül S

¸ahin

, Adil Samekin

, R¯

uta Sargautyt ˙

, Tatiana Semenovskikh

Henrik Siepelmeyer

, Sangeeta Singh

, Alicja Sołtys

, Agnieszka Sorokowska

Rodrigo Soto-L´

opez

, Liliya Sultanova

, William Tamayo-Agudelo

, Chee-Seng Tan

Gulmira T. Topanova

, Merve Topcu Bulut

, Bastien Tr´

emoli`

ere

, Singha Tulyakul

Belgüzar N. Türkan

, Arkadiusz Urbanek

, Tatiana Volkodav

, Kathryn V. Walter

Mohd Faiz Mohd Yaakob

, Marcos Zum´

arraga-Espinosa

University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland

ENES Bioacoustics Research Laboratory, University of Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France

DDL Language Dynamics Laboratory, University of Lyon 2, Lyon, France

University of S˜

ao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Chapman University, Orange, CA, United States of America

University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, United States of America

Universidad de Concepci´

on, Concepci´

on, Chile

University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Skopje, North Macedonia

University of P´

ecs, P´

ecs, Hungary

University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, United Kingdom

University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway

Institute of Retail Economics, Stockholm, Sweden

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway

University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

Icam, Toulouse, France

Mef University, ˙

Istanbul, Turkey

Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens, Greece

University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Elte, Budapest, Hungary

Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, United States of America

University of Paris Nanterre, Nanterre, France

University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

University of Asia and the Pacic, Pasig City 1605, Philippines

imec-mict-Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia

Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Canada

Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

National Research University Higher School of Economics, RF, Moscow, Russia

University of Pavol Jozef ˇ

Saf´

arik in Koˇ

sice, Koˇ

sice, Slovakia

University of Turku, Turku, Finland

Universit´

e De Toulouse, Cnrs, Ut2j, Toulouse, France

Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands

State University of New York at Fredonia, Fredonia, NY, United States of America

Universidad Del Norte, Puerto Colombia, Colombia

University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany

University of Waikato, Tauranga, New Zealand

Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia

Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia

University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

Iscte-university Institute of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czechia

Yasar University, Izmir, Turkey

Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey

Univerity of Setif2, Setif, Algeria

Japan Womens’ University, Tokyo, Japan

Soa University, Soa, Bulgaria

Prince of Songkla University, Pattani, Thailand

Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom

The Open University of Israel, Raanana, Israel

Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Malaysia

University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv, Ukraine

University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava, Trnava, Slovakia

West University of Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, United States of America

Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea

Universit´

e Paris Nanterre, Nanterre, France

Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan

Pontical Catholic University of Rio De Janeiro, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Ege University, Izmir, Turkey

M. Kowal et al.

Evolution and Human Behavior 43 (2022) 455–474

457

Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Hatay, Turkey

Izmir University of Economics, ˙

Izmir, Turkey

University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

University of Pamukkale, Denizli, Turkey

University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway

NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

New Bulgarian University, Soa, Bulgaria

Tobb University of Economics and Technology, Ankara, Turkey

Universit´

e Catholique De Louvain, Louvain La Neuve, Belgium

Senshu University, Kawasaki, Japan

Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine

University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy

University of Florence, Florence, Italy

Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey

Universit`

a Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy

J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia

University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia

University of Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco

Faculty of Legal and Business Studies dr Lazar Vrkati´

c, Union University, Novi Sad, Serbia

University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia

Manisa Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan

Universidad Cat´

olica Del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile

Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ure˜

na, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda

Modern University for Business and Science, Damour, Lebanon

Neapolis University Pafos, Paphos, Cyprus

University of Georgia, Tbilisi, Georgia

Del Valle University of Guatemala, Guatemala City, Guatemala

SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland

Michigan State University, East Lansing, United States of America

Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia

University of California, Santa Barbara, United States of America

ENES, Unidad Morelia, Universidad Nacional Aut´

onoma de M´

exico, Morelia, M´

exico

University of Coimbra, Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention (CINEICC), Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences,

Coimbra, Portugal

Pavol Jozef ˇ

Saf´

arik University, Koˇ

sice, Slovakia

Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland

University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Conicet, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Razi Hospital, Manouba, Tunisia

Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia

International University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain

Universit´

e Ibn Tofail, Kenitra, Morocco

University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Busara Center for Beahvioral Economics, Nairobi, Kenya

University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih, Malaysia

University of Belgrade, Fon, Belgrade, Serbia

Ecole sup´

erieure des sciences commerciales d’Angers, Angers, France

Women University Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

University of Opole, Opole, Poland

National Autonomous University of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

Facultad de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales, Universidad Sim´

on Bolívar, Barranquilla, Colombia

Ponticia Universidad Cat´

olica Del Ecuador-Ambato, Ambato, Ecuador

Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania

National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad, Pakistan

Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar, Malaysia

Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Nigeria

Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

University of Santo Tomas, Manila, Philippines

University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy

Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany

M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University, Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan

Tyumen State University, Tyumen, Russia

Universidad Nacional Aut´

onoma De M´

exico in Mexico City, Ciudad De M´

exico, Mexico

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Branch in Tashkent, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Universidad Cooperativa De Colombia, Medellín, Colombia

Kazakh National Women’s University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Lund University, Malm¨

o, Sweden

University of Toulouse Jean-Jaures, Toulouse, France

Thaksin University, Songkhla, Thailand

Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey

M. Kowal et al.

Evolution and Human Behavior 43 (2022) 455–474

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Kuban State University, Krasnodar, Russia

Salesian Polytechnic University, Quito, Ecuador

Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

ISCTE – Instituto Universit´

ario de Lisboa (IUL), CIS-IUL, Lisboa, Portugal

Psychological Set Research and Correction Center, Tbilisi State Medical University, Tbilisi, Georgia

DecisionLab: Center for Behavioral Research im Decision Making, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland

Center for Research on Biological Basis of Social Behavior, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw, Poland

ARTICLE INFO

Keywords:

Evolutionary theory

Mating market perspective

Pathogen stress

Appearance

Self-modication

Social media usage

ABSTRACT

People across the world and throughout history have gone to great lengths to enhance their physical appearance.

Evolutionary psychologists and ethologists have largely attempted to explain this phenomenon via mating

preferences and strategies. Here, we test one of the most popular evolutionary hypotheses for beauty-enhancing

behaviors, drawn from mating market and parasite stress perspectives, in a large cross-cultural sample. We also

test hypotheses drawn from other inuential and non-mutually exclusive theoretical frameworks, from biosocial

role theory to a cultural media perspective. Survey data from 93,158 human participants across 93 countries

provide evidence that behaviors such as applying makeup or using other cosmetics, hair grooming, clothing style,

caring for body hygiene, and exercising or following a specic diet for the specic purpose of improving ones

physical attractiveness, are universal. Indeed, 99% of participants reported spending >10 min a day performing

beauty-enhancing behaviors. The results largely support evolutionary hypotheses: more time was spent

enhancing beauty by women (almost 4 h a day, on average) than by men (3.6 h a day), by the youngest par-

ticipants (and contrary to predictions, also the oldest), by those with a relatively more severe history of infectious

diseases, and by participants currently dating compared to those in established relationships. The strongest

predictor of attractiveness-enhancing behaviors was social media usage. Other predictors, in order of effect size,

included adhering to traditional gender roles, residing in countries with less gender equality, considering oneself

as highly attractive or, conversely, highly unattractive, TV watching time, higher socioeconomic status, right-

wing political beliefs, a lower level of education, and personal individualistic attitudes. This study provides

novel insight into universal beauty-enhancing behaviors by unifying evolutionary theory with several other

complementary perspectives.

1. Introduction

The ubiquitous human interest in improving one’s physical appear-

ance seems to have deep historical and evolutionary roots. The human

tendency for appearance enhancement might have originated from

phylogenetically conserved primate tendencies for self-grooming (Boc-

cia, 1983; Prokop, Fanˇ

coviˇ

cov´

a, and Fedor, 2014; Valentova, Mafra, &

Varella, 2022). Since the Middle Pleistocene period, the potentially

ornamental use of red ochre was found in Neanderthals as long as

200–250 thousand years ago (Kya; Roebroeks et al., 2012), and around

164 Kya in early sapiens (Marean et al., 2007). The use of marine shell

beads for possible personal decoration in humans dates back 70–120 Kya

(d’Errico et al., 2009). During the Upper Pleistocene period (dating

between 50 and 10 Kya), some materials are hypothesized to be precious

due to their use as adornments (Clark, 1986; Liu, 2006). By 50 Kya,

Neanderthals used pigmentation, shell bead adornments, eagle talons,

and feathers most likely to alter their appearance (Finlayson et al., 2012;

Mellars, 2010; Romandini et al., 2014; Zilh˜

ao, 2012). During the Ho-

locene, ancient Egyptians cared for their faces (Lerner, 1932; Murube,

2013) and used cosmetics such as oils, moisturizers, black powders, and

dyes to improve their appearance (Hunt, Fate, and Dodds, 2011),

whereas ancient Romans enhanced their beauty through hairstyles and

makeup (Chaudhri and Jain, 2009).

Such a long tradition in human’s tendency for appearance

enhancement indicates that it might serve essential functions, related,

for example, to increasing one’s reproductive tness or social status.

This is perhaps why so many evolutionary scholars have deemed this

topic of critical importance and have endeavored to investigate its roots

and roles (see, e.g., Arnocky, Bird, and Perilloux, 2014; Buss, 1989,

2015; Buss and Schmitt, 1993; DelPriore, Prokosch, and Hill, 2017; Fink,

Butovskaya, Sorokowski, Sorokowska, and Matts, 2017; Gangestad and

Simpson, 2000; Miguel and Buss, 2011; Perilloux and Buss, 2008;

Sugiyama, 2005; Symons, 1995; Tybur and Gangestad, 2011; Walter

et al., 2020). The available evidence has given rise to many inuential

evolutionarily-driven hypotheses, aimed at explaining the origins of

differences in beauty investments as a function of, for example, gender,

relationship status, and parasite stress. Notably, other disciplines have

also tackled the topic of self-modication, attempting to predict who

might be the most interested in improving one’s appearance and why. In

the present study, we aim to test these predictions jointly, including

evolutionary hypotheses driven from mating market and pathogen stress

perspectives, alongside cultural and biosocial hypotheses, on a large,

cross-cultural sample.

1.1. Mating market perspective

The mating market perspective draws on the assumptions that people

actively choose and are chosen as partners by members of the opposite

sex (Edward, 2015). These choice processes occur on a hypothesized

‘mating market’ where individuals seek out mates (Whyte, Brooks, and

Torgler, 2019). Some people in the mating market have traits that are in

high demand, such as physical attractiveness. In the classic 37 culture

study by Buss, both men and women ranked ‘good looks’ as one of the

top ten traits they value in a partner (Buss, 1989), and more recent

studies suggest that people have been placing increasing importance on

physical looks in their mate preferences over the last few decades (Fales

et al., 2016; Walter et al., 2020). These preferences create an incentive

for men and women to engage in strategies that enhance their physical

appearance in the eyes of the opposite or preferred sex.

However, one gender might receive more benets in the mating

market by enhancing their looks than the other. To understand why, one

could go back to our distant ancestors, wherein men and women are

hypothesized to have faced divergent adaptive challenges (Buss, 1989).

Namely, women have a more constrained period of fertility than men do,

and the reproductive success of a man who partners with one woman is

dictated by her remaining reproductive years. It is hypothesized that this

selective pressure led human males to evolve a perceptive bias; that is,

being predisposed to nding cues of youth in women attractive, because

this could translate into increasing men’s reproductive success. In

contrast, women’s reproductive success has traditionally been more

M. Kowal et al.

Evolution and Human Behavior 43 (2022) 455–474

459

heavily constrained by choosing investing partners who help maximize

their and their offspring’s survival (in addition to those of high genetic

quality), particularly in the context of a long-term mate. Thus, women

are hypothesized to prioritize male cues of high status, prestige, and

formidability (Buss and Schmitt, 1993, 2019).

These divergent adaptive challenges are hypothesized to have

resulted in salient gender differences in mate competition and attraction

strategies (Davis and Arnocky, 2020). To attract potential partners,

women are predicted to be more interested in enhancing their physical

attractiveness than men are. In contrast, men are predicted to be more

interested in displaying their resources than women are (Shackelford

and Liddle, 2014). However, this does not necessarily entail that men

will be uninterested in their physical appearance. On the contrary, some

hypothesize that modern culture encourages men to care about and

invest in their attractiveness (Ricciardelli, 2011), while others highlight

that men have long been attentive to maximizing their muscularity

(Lennon and Johnson, 2021). This converges with evolutionary theory,

which posits that upper body strength might have beneted our male

ancestors in intra- and inter-sexual competition (von Rueden, Gurven,

and Kaplan, 2008). Male muscularity and formidability might have also

helped men gain higher status and sexual interest from women (Fred-

erick and Haselton, 2007; Sell, Tooby, and Cosmides, 2009). Thus, it is

reasonable to expect some men to feel more pressure to gain lean and

muscular bodies compared to some women, and, when not fullling

these ideals, to feel some level of body dissatisfaction (Lei and Perrett,

2021).

Furthermore, improving physical attractiveness can be especially

paramount during reproductive years when nding a potential mate is

one of the most crucial developmental life tasks (Buss, 2015; Griskevi-

cius and Kenrick, 2013). At this age, fertility potential is the highest

(Fitzgerald, Zimon, and Jonesa, 1998; WHO, 2006), and thus, efcient

pair-bonding might translate into higher reproductive success (i.e., more

offspring). Unsurprisingly, intra- and inter-individual competition

among individuals of reproductive age is more pronounced than among

individuals not of reproductive age (Massar, Buunk, and Rempt, 2012;

Semenyna, 2020).

One way to attract potential mates is by improving one’s physical

appearance (Mafra et al., 2020). For similar reasons, single individuals

are more motivated to attract a potential partner than are those in

romantic relationships (Fisher, Cox, and Gordon, 2009). Indeed,

remaining single could constrain inclusive tness if unpartnered in-

dividuals never nd mates with whom to reproduce (Cronk, 1991).

1.2. Pathogen prevalence

Pathogen prevalence is yet another factor that may predict who will

spend more time improving their appearance and why. As transmittable

diseases have posed a considerable challenge in mammalian history

(Hurtado, Frey, Hurtado, Hill, and Baker, 2008), including human

evolution (Fumagalli et al., 2011), organisms have developed a wide

range of mechanisms to protect themselves from infectious agents. One

such mechanism is the behavioral immune system (Kavaliers and Col-

well, 1995), which governs responses to potentially pathogenic stimuli.

It has been hypothesized that mammals have evolved aversions to spe-

cic cues connected with pathogens. To illustrate, selection has shaped

human’s preferences for specic indices of health and the absence of

pathogens (Duncan and Schaller, 2009; Penton-Voak, Jacobson, and

Trivers, 2004; Sorokowski, Ko´

sci´

nski, and Sorokowska, 2013).

Attractiveness has been widely hypothesized to be a proxy or indi-

cator of health (Fink et al., 2017; Tybur and Gangestad, 2011), however

many studies have challenged these notions (see, e.g., Cai et al., 2019;

Rantala et al., 2013), and some suggest that the relationship between

physical attractiveness and health may not be linear. Unattractiveness

could be a stronger cue of poor health than attractiveness is a cue of good

health. For instance, Klebi, Greenaway, Rhee, and Bastian (2021)

showed that relatively less attractive human faces elicit disgust

responses and, reciprocally, cues of pathogens reduce attractiveness

judgments. This may explain why humans universally place a high value

on attractiveness among potential mates (Buss, 1989). Beauty might

attract, while the opposite might evoke avoidance (Park, Van Leeuwen,

and Chochorelou, 2013). Preferences for attractive partners and aver-

sions for unattractive partners might motivate individuals with visual

imperfections (concerning, e.g., skin condition) to conceal them by

using cosmetics and make-up. Such a tactic might be more critical in

pathogen-rich environments (Penton-Voak et al., 2004).

1.3. Biosocial role theory

Biosocial role theory (formerly known as social role theory; Eagly

and Wood, 1999, 2016; Wood and Eagly, 2012) attempts to explain,

inter alia, salient gender differences across cultures. Sexually dimorphic

biological characteristics of women and men (women’s childbearing and

nursing of infants and men’s size and strength) are said to underlie the

division of labor between human sexes (Eagly, 1987). This biological

division interacts with social factors. In particular, the greater the gap

between gender roles in a given society (i.e., norms and shared beliefs

about how men and women should act; Wood and Eagly, 2012), the

stronger the pressure to conform to gender-typical behaviors. These

stereotypical gender roles are reinforced from early childhood through

socialization (Sani and Quaranta, 2017) and remain an active force into

adulthood (Wood and Eagly, 2012), ultimately becoming prevalent be-

liefs in the given society (Eagly, Wood, and Diekman, 2000).

Stereotypically, beauty is often a vital part of the feminine gender

role across a broad range of cultures (Buote, Wilson, Strahan, Gazzola,

and Papps, 2011; Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997). This aligns with the

mating market perspective. However, while the mating market

perspective hypothesizes such sex/gender differences to be found in

equal terms everywhere (regardless of cultural background), the

biosocial role theory emphasizes that such differences might be more

pronounced in countries with more gender inequality. Similarly, on an

individual level, women adhering to more gender-unequal (vs. more

gender-equal) views are hypothesized to more readily endorse gender-

specic social expectations including those of beauty ideals. One of

the ways in which gender inequality manifests itself is via income

inequality. That is, women, on average, earn less than men do (Avram &

Popova, 2022). Blake, Bastian, Denson, Grosjean, and Brooks (2018)

found some support for such claims, showing that areas in the USA with

higher income inequality were related to relatively more intense body

modications. Another experimental study provided evidence for a

causal relationship: when exposed to cues of higher income inequality,

women expressed increased intentions to wear revealing clothing (Blake

and Brooks, 2019).

1.4. Cultural media perspective

Following a cultural media perspective (Murnen and Seabrook,

2012; Stephens, Hill, and Hanson, 1994; Xu et al., 2010), many scholars

appeal to the inuence of mass media when explaining the pursuit of

good looks. According to Festinger’s (1954) social comparison theory,

humans have an innate drive to compare themselves with others.

Further, it is surmised that the Western canon of beauty is responsible

for pressuring women to conform to the expected feminine beauty ideal.

Notably, this beauty ideal is unattainable for most women (Grogan,

2016), but this does not prevent women from internalizing cultivated

patterns of beauty (Brownell, 1991). In line with this reasoning, Fre-

drickson and Roberts (1997) laid the foundations of the objectication

theory, which posits that women internalize others’ perspectives as a

primary view of themselves and their bodies. Initially, scholars focused

on the adverse effects of objectication experienced by women (Moradi

and Huang, 2008). However, it is now widely accepted that men are

likewise subject to objectication and can struggle with its adverse ef-

fects (Davids, Watson, and Gere, 2019). For instance, treating oneself as

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460

an object fosters body monitoring and body anxiety (Fredrickson and

Roberts, 1997).

Social media provides an increasing array of opportunities to

compare oneself with others and to receive objectied comments about

oneself (Fardouly, Diedrichs, Vartanian, and Halliwell, 2015). Further-

more, social media offers readily available knowledge on current beauty

products, technologies, and procedures. Such products may be easily

accessible for purchase online. Notably, social media usage is now a

nearly universal phenomenon (Kowal et al., 2020). As such, numerous

concerned voices have been raised about how mass media’s potentially

negative impact has progressed in recent years (Wiederhold, 2019). For

instance, it has been shown that more frequent use of social media is

linked to increased self-objectication and body image concerns (Far-

douly, Willburger, and Vartanian, 2018). A recent meta-analysis

conrmed a positive link between social media use and disturbances

in body image (Saiphoo and Vahedi, 2019).

1.5. Individualism-collectivism continuum

We also investigated the link between behaviors aimed at improving

physical attractiveness and the individualism-collectivism dimension,

namely, how people construct their identity in relation to others (Mar-

kus and Kitayama, 1991). A collectivistic attitude pertains to confor-

mity, cooperation, and favoring group interests above one’s individual

interests (Triandis, McCusker, and Hui, 1990). Individualistic values

refer to valuing self-interest above group interest, emphasizing the

importance of independence and pursuing one’s goals (Morand and

Walther, 2018). These can include self-actualizing one’s beauty poten-

tial. Considering that the theme of beauty is salient in Western societies,

and Westernized societies tend to be highly individualistic (Henrich,

Heine, and Norenzayan, 2010; Hofstede, 1984, 2001), it is reasonable to

assume that people from more individualistic cultures may grow up in

environments lled with messages conveying beauty-enhancing ideals.

O’Garo et al. (2020) showed that the internalization of Western ideals

among Caribbean adolescents was associated with lower self-esteem and

increased depressive symptoms. One way to improve one’s self-esteem is

to increase body satisfaction (Lennon and Rudd, 1994), for instance

through self-modication (Fares et al., 2019).

1.6. Other factors

While most of the above-cited studies examining predictors of

beauty-enhancing behaviors were performed on one specic population

and tested hypotheses drawn from only one particular framework, self-

enhancing activities are complex behaviors that can depend on

numerous factors. Here, in addition to testing each of the frameworks

described above (see Fig. 1 for the hypotheses’ overview), we also

control for national- and individual-level factors that were previously

shown to interact with the intensity of beauty-enhancing behaviors,

namely: socioeconomic status (Peterson and Palmer, 2017), self-

assessed physical attractiveness (Antonova and Merenkov, 2020), edu-

cation (Converse et al., 2016), and political beliefs (Peterson and

Palmer, 2017).

2. Material and methods

The study’s protocol was approved by the Principal Investigator’s

Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the Institute of Psychology, Uni-

versity of Wrocław. All team members who collected data followed the

ethical guidelines of their IRBs, acting either on the ethical approval of

the Principal Investigator’s IRB or ethical approval received from their

local IRBs. Further, all participants provided informed consent to

Fig. 1. Overview of postulated hypotheses on the origins of differences in beauty investments.

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participate in the survey.

2.1. Participants

Out of 118,320 participants who gave their consent to participate in

the survey, 93,158 individuals (from 93 countries with a minimum

sample size of 30 individuals per country; Arend and Sch¨

afer, 2019;

Lieberoth et al., 2021) passed the attention check and their data were

thus included in further analyses. The sample included 62,410 (67%)

self-identied women, 29,501 (31.7%) self-identied men, 884 (0.9%)

non-binary individuals, and 363 (0.4%) individuals who preferred not to

indicate their gender. Age ranged from 18 to 90+years (M =30.11, SD

=12.37). Furthermore, 37,515 (40.3%) of individuals reported being

single, 12,266 (13.2%) were dating, 23,764 (25.5%) were in a

committed relationship, 19,550 (21%) were married, and 63 (0.001%)

did not answer this item. For a detailed description of demographic

characteristics per country, see Table S1 in Supplementary Materials.

Most participants were not compensated for their participation (~6% of

participants were reimbursed for their participation and ~9% received

partial course credit). Because our sample overwhelmingly consisted of

cis-gender individuals, we only included them in subsequent analyses.

2.2. Procedure

Using a forward-back translation procedure (Brislin, 1970, 1983),

the survey was translated into 43 languages. Detailed instructions for all

translating teams are given in Supplementary Materials. After the

translation process was completed, the study for that given language

was launched. Data collection spanned 5 months from April to August

2021. Data were collected mostly online (with a few exceptions, out-

lined in the Supplementary Materials). Collaborators were asked to

invite participants from as diverse sample pools as possible (older and

younger, men and women, from small and large cities, from the com-

munity and university samples, and so forth). We encouraged partici-

pants to share the link to the survey on their social media.

Approximately 6% of the data were collected using outsourcing plat-

forms (e.g., Prolic, mTurk).

2.3. Materials

2.3.1. Beauty-enhancing behaviors

A literature review, coupled with a pilot study (see Supplementary

Materials for details), allowed us to identify eight common categories of

beauty-enhancing behaviors, including: (1) applying makeup, (2) body

hygiene, (3) using cosmetics, (4) exercising, (5) hair grooming, (6)

clothing style, (7) following a specic diet, and (8) other (in which

participants could describe what other activities they perform). In the

current study, participants were asked to indicate whether and how

often they performed the given beauty-enhancing activity (out of the list

above). Importantly, participants were instructed to choose the given

activity only if they performed it to look better (and not for other rea-

sons, such as health concerns) and to indicate the time spent on a typical

day performing the given activity.

The response-slider ranged from 0 min to 6 h and more per day, with

1-min scale points. We created two beauty-enhancing indices (see Sup-

plementary Materials). The rst (core) index included four activities

most commonly viewed as aimed at improving attractiveness (i.e.,

applying makeup, body hygiene, using cosmetics, and hair grooming).

The second (extended) index included these same core four behaviors,

plus the remaining types of behaviors (i.e., exercising, clothing style,

caring for diet, and any others that were manually reported by partici-

pants). Both indices comprised a sum of all minutes (to a maximum of

12 h per day) within each of the categories (core–consisting of tradi-

tional activities associated with enhancing beauty, McDonald’s

0.90, and extended–consisting of all types of behaviors indicated as

improving one’s appearance, McDonald’s

=0.95). See Supplementary

Materials for the Beauty-enhancing Behavior Scale.

2.3.2. Individual-level predictors

Endorsement of gender role equality was measured with the Gender

subscale from the Gender Equitable Men Scale (Levtov, Barker,

Contreras-Urbina, Heilman, and Verma, 2014). The subscale consists of

three items (e.g., A woman’s most important role is to take care of her home

and cook), with responses ranging from 1–denitely disagree to

7–denitely agree. The scale was statistically reliable (McDonald’s

0.85). The mean of the three items was calculated and reverse coded

such that a higher score would indicate a higher endorsement of gender

equality.

Individualism was measured by four reverse coded items (e.g., Group

success is more important than individual success) from the Collectivism

Scale (Wu, 2006), which aligns with Hofstede’s cultural dimensions

(Hofstede, 1984, 2001). Responses ranged from 1–denitely disagree to

7–denitely agree. After exploring the individualism scale, it became

evident that one item (i.e., Being accepted by members of the workgroup is

very important) may not reliably represent general attitudes toward

individualism. Instead, it may be constricted to a work context. We

performed an exploratory factor analysis, and as this single item loaded

onto the individualism attitudes substantially less than did the other

items (0.37 as compared to 0.83, 0.87, and 0.50), and fell below the

usually recommended criterion (i.e., below 0.40; Costello and Osborne,

2019), we removed it and used the mean of the remaining three items in

all subsequent analyses. The three-item individualism scale was statis-

tically reliable (McDonald’s

=0.79).

Individual-level pathogen history was measured with nine items

from the Pathogen Prevalence Index (Murray and Schaller, 2010). All

items were modied so that they would pertain to an individual’s his-

tory of nine infectious diseases, initially identied by Murray and

Schaller (2010) when computing their country-level history of pathogen

prevalence (the question was: Have you ever contracted (been sick with)

any of the following diseases? Leishmaniasis, Schistosomes, Trypanosomes,

Leprosy, Malaria, Typhus, Filariae, Dengue, Tuberculosis). Possible answers

were: 0–never, 1–once, and 2–multiple times. A sum of the responses to

each of the nine diseases comprised an individuals’ pathogen history

score.

Furthermore, gender, age, relationship status (transformed as

0–single individuals and 1–individuals in a relationship), time spent on

social media, time spent watching TV, self-assessed attractiveness (from

1–extremely physically unattractive to 11–extremely physically attractive),

attained education (from 1–no formal education to 7–primary school

through PhD, MD, JD, or other advanced degrees), socioeconomic status

(from to 1–lower to 5–upper), and political views (from 1–far left to 5–far

right) were each measured with a single-item question (see Supple-

mentary Materials for full list of questions).

2.3.3. Country-level predictors

Data on Gross Domestic Product (per capita) were obtained from the

International Monetary Fund (2018), individualism scores from the

Hofstede index (Hofstede, 2001; Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov,

2010), gender equality from the United Nations’ Gender Inequality

Index (GII), and pathogen prevalence from Murray and Schaller (2010)

and from Fincher, Thornhill, Murray, and Schaller (2008). The latter

index differs from the former in that it is based on contemporary and not

historical epidemiological information and on seven rather than nine

diseases (i.e., Leishmaniasis, Trypanosomes, Malaria, Schistosomes,

Filariae, Spirochetes, and Leprosy).

2.4. Statistical analyses

As a rst step, Pearson correlations across the variables of interest

were computed and the reliability of the gender role equality and

individualism scales were tested using McDonald’s

(as reported above).

In the next step, we tested for measurement equivalence between the

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462

gender role equality and individualism scales (see Supplementary Ma-

terials for details).

The Mahalanobis Distance for an outcome variable was calculated

relying on the usually recommended cutoff (i.e., <0.001; Mahalanobis,

1960; Penny, 1996) when screening for potential outliers. Data from

1478 participants were excluded based on this criterion. Multilevel

analyses with a maximum likelihood estimator were then conducted.

Participants were nested within countries to account for the non-

independence between inhabitants of the same geographical terri-

tories. Then, self-reported individual-level predictors were group-mean

centered, including time spent on social media and watching TV, age,

self-assessed physical attractiveness, attained education, adherence to

gender role equality, individualism, pathogen history, socioeconomic

status, and political beliefs. Country-level predictors were grand-mean

centered, including Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, individ-

ualism score, gender equality score, and pathogen prevalence. After

investigating the countries’ residuals (the joint distribution of the

random intercepts and slopes), it was decided to dummy out ve

countries (i.e., Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, Thailand, Tunisia), as they

violated the assumption of normality in the multivariate group-level

distribution of the residuals (Jones and Subramanian, 2019). This

method controls for variability and potential biases linked in the data

(Jones and Subramanian, 2019), while still retaining all participants in

those countries (N =4446) in our models.

In the rst models, indices of the time spent enhancing one’s beauty

(both the core and extended behaviors) were regressed on individual

level predictors (gender, age, relationship status, time spent on social

media, watching TV, self-assessed attractiveness, attained education,

socioeconomic status, and political views). In the second model, random

slopes of gender and age were estimated. The third model introduced

country-level variables (GDP per capita, individualism score, gender

equality score, and pathogen prevalence). When comparing the three

models, the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) and Akaike Informa-

tion Criterion (AIC) were employed. The recommended guidelines were

adhered to, that is, the change in the BIC between the two models (when

ΔBIC >10, the latter model indicates a better t; Raftery, 1995) and the

change in the AIC between the two models (similarly as in the BIC;

Burnham and Anderson, 2004). Next, relationship status was re-coded

into four categories (single, dating, committed relationship, married)

and post-hoc comparisons with Tukey correction were performed. Then,

we tested the nal model with time spent exercising as an outcome

variable. In the last step, we compared the BIC and AIC of the models

derived from each of the perspectives against a full model including all

predictors. All analyses were performed in R (Version 4.1.0; for the list

of R packages, see Supplementary Materials).

3. Results

Correlations between time spent enhancing one’s beauty and other

variables of interest are presented in Table S2 in Supplementary Mate-

rials. Fig. 2 illustrates the standardized time spent on beauty-enhancing

behaviors (extended index) across countries, and Fig. 3 shows gender

differences across countries. See Supplementary Materials for gures

showing standardized time spent enhancing beauty across countries and

gender, independently for each of the eight types of activities aimed at

increase one’s appearance (Figs. S1–S9).

As described in the statistical analysis section, the equivalence of

invariance of the two scales, namely gender role equality and individ-

ualism, was rst investigated. Detailed descriptions of the multigroup

conrmatory factor analyses are presented in Table S3 and Table S4 in

the Supplementary Materials, respectively. In short, our results indi-

cated that partial scalar invariance was reached for both the gender role

Fig. 2. Standardized time spent on beauty-enhancing behaviors across countries (gray strips indicate a lack of data for a given region).

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equality and individualism scales.

The results of the models with core and extended indices of beauty-

enhancing behaviors as outcome variables showed the same pattern of

results. Thus, here we present the results of the model with the extended

index, as it captures more variety of behaviors aimed at improving one’s

appearance (for results of the model with the core attractiveness index as

an outcome variable, see Table S5 in Supplementary Materials).

Furthermore, when comparing the three multilevel models (the rst,

with individual-level predictors, the second, with freed slopes of age and

gender, and the third, with country-level predictors), the second model

showed a superior t compared with the rst (ΔBIC =573), but the third

model showed a superior t compared with both the second (ΔBIC =

10), and the rst (ΔBIC =563). Similar results were yielded by the AIC.

Each subsequent model provided a better t to the data (ΔAIC =477

between the rst and second model, ΔAIC =17,712 between the second

and third model, and ΔAIC =18,189 between the third and rst model).

Thus, herein, we report the results of the third, best tting model.

As illustrated in Table 1, we examined the predictors of investing

time on beauty-enhancing behaviors (see also Fig. 4). Consistent with

Hypothesis 1, more time on beauty enhancing behaviors was spent by

women than by men. Whereas women spend an average of 238 min a

day (approximately 4 h) enhancing their attractiveness when all eight

types of behaviors are considered, men spend an average of 215 min a

day (approximately 3.6 h daily). In an explorative vein, when we

regressed the time spent exercising on the predictors from the nal

model, men invested more time in this beauty-enhancing activity than

did women (β = − 0.139, SE =0.010, p <0.001; see Table S6 for detailed

results). However, when physical exercise was excluded, women still

spent more time overall enhancing their attractiveness (mean 211 min)

than did men (182 min).

Partly in accord with Hypothesis 2, there was a curvilinear rela-

tionship between beauty-enhancing behaviors and age, meaning that the

youngest and oldest individuals spent more time enhancing their

appearance than did those of intermediate age (see Fig. 5). Contrary to

Hypothesis 3, there was a positive relationship between time spent

improving one’s attractiveness and relationship status (i.e., being single

vs. non-single). However, when we broke down the relationship status

into the four original categories (single, dating, in a committed rela-

tionship, and married), post-hoc analyses revealed that dating in-

dividuals spent more time enhancing their beauty than did people in the

three remaining categories (z >6.075, p <0.001; see Fig. 6).

Contrary to Hypothesis 4, there was no relationship between beauty

investments and a countries’ pathogen prevalence. However, when we

examined the robustness of this nding using an alternative measure of

pathogen prevalence (Fincher et al., 2008), we observed a positive

relationship (β =0.096, SE =0.036, 95%CI [0.025, 0.167], p =0.008)

between countries’ index of pathogen prevalence and time spent

enhancing physical attractiveness (controlling for other predictor vari-

ables from the model). Consistent with Hypothesis 5, individuals with a

relatively more severe history of pathogenic diseases spent more time

enhancing their beauty (see Table 1). To test Hypotheses 6 and 7, we

regressed the predicted values of the nal model on both country- and

individual-level gender role equality scores among women only (see

Table S7 in the Supplementary Materials). Results revealed that women

from less gender-equal countries (β = − 0.186, SE =0.022, p <0.001),

and with less equal gender-role attitudes (β = − 0.130, SE =0.004, p <

0.001) spent relatively more time enhancing their beauty. This result is

consistent with both Hypotheses 6 and 7. Furthermore, the same pattern

of results emerged when running the analysis on the full sample, with

both men and women included (see Table 1).

Fig. 3. Gender differences (in percentages) in time spent enhancing beauty across countries (gray strips indicate a lack of data for a given region).

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Consistent with Hypotheses 8 and 9, individuals who spent more (vs.

less) time on social media and watching TV invested more time

improving their appearance. Contrary to Hypothesis 10, there was no

relationship between beauty-enhancing activities and countries’ indi-

vidualism scores. Consistent with Hypothesis 11, individuals with more

individualistic (vs. collectivistic) attitudes spent more time enhancing

their physical attractiveness (see Table 1 for full results). We also tested

the robustness of these results by running a model in which all

individual-level predictors were permitted to vary. Freed coefcients

remained virtually the same (except the binary coded relationship sta-

tus, which ceased to be signicantly related to beauty-enhancing be-

haviors; see Table S8 in the Supplementary Materials).

Furthermore, we found that more time improving one’s appearance

was spent by individuals who considered themselves as more (vs. less)

attractive, less (vs. more) educated, individuals with higher (vs. lower)

socioeconomic status, and individuals with more right-wing (vs. left-

wing) political views. There was no relationship between time spent

improving one’s attractiveness and the countries’ gross domestic prod-

uct per capita. When comparing the models derived from each of the

perspectives (i.e., mating market perspective, biosocial role theory,

pathogen prevalence, cultural media perspective, and individualism-

collectivism continuum) against a model that included all predictors,

we found that the full model had the best t to the data (all ΔBIC >

45,258 and ΔAIC >45,468).

In an exploratory vein, we more closely investigated gender differ-

ences with a multilevel model that included interactions with gender

and all predictor variables (for detailed results, see Table S7 in the

Supplementary Materials). We then followed up with separate analyses

for men and women (see Tables S9–S10 in the Supplementary

Materials). Results revealed signicant interactions between gender

(with men as a reference group) and: countries’ GDP, historical path-

ogen prevalence, participants’ age, time spent on social media, time

spent watching TV, self-assessed physical attractiveness, endorsement of

gender roles, attained education, and political beliefs. In contrast, in-

teractions between participant gender and countries’ individualism

score, gender equality, and participants’ relationship status, individu-

alism score, history of transmittable diseases, and socio-economic status

were non-signicant. After closer inspection, we observed that the ef-

fects were larger for women than men in the case of individual

endorsement of gender roles and time spent watching TV, but larger for

men than women in the case of time spent on social media, self-assessed

physical attractiveness, history of transmittable diseases, and SES. In

short, men who were wealthier, who more often used social media,

perceived themselves as more physically attractive, and had previously

contracted transmissible diseases tended to spend more time on

appearance enhancement, whereas these patterns were less pronounced

among women. Sex-specic effects were also non-signicant for men but

signicant for women in the case of countries’ Gross Domestic Product

(per capita), age, relationship status, individualism score, attained level

of education and political beliefs, and non-signicant for women but

signicant for men in case of countries’ gender equality (see Tables S7,

S9–S10 and Figs. S10–S19 in the Supplementary Materials).

Furthermore, we closely examined the non-linear relationship be-

tween time spent enhancing physical attractiveness and self-assessed

physical attractiveness. Results revealed that this relationship was U-

shaped. More specically, the most time on beauty enhancing behaviors

was performed by participants who considered themselves as the most

physically attractive, followed by those who viewed themselves as the

least physically attractive, with those who believed themselves as

averagely attractive spending the least amount of time improving their

attractiveness (see Table S11 and Fig. S20 in the Supplementary

Materials).

Finally, we performed a factor analysis on the eight beauty-

enhancing items to test whether distinct factors would emerge. Results

of the parallel analysis suggested a 2-factor structure of the measure,

which was further conrmed by analyses of Eigenvalues. When

analyzing the items’ loadings (above the usually recommended cutoff of

0.40; Costello and Osborne, 2019), six items (i.e., cosmetics usage,

make-up, body hygiene, exercising, caring for hair and dress) loaded

onto the rst factor, while the other two items (i.e., caring for diet and

“other” types of activities) loaded onto the second factor. We repeated

the analyses with these two factors separately, introduced as outcome

variables, however, the pattern of results remained similar (for detailed

results, see Tables S12-S13 in the Supplementary Materials).

4. General discussion

Many scholars have called for a large-scale study on primarily non-

Western samples to comprehensively examine predictors of activities

aimed at improving physical attractiveness in humans (see, e.g., Brad-

shaw and DelPriore, 2021; Davis and Arnocky, 2020; Wagstaff, 2018).

The present multi-national investigation addressed this core need by

testing evolutionarily-driven hypotheses, alongside several other inu-

ential hypotheses regarding beauty-enhancing behaviors that have not

been jointly and empirically veried in a large-scale global

investigation.

4.1. Mating market perspective

We observed that globally, while both sexes spent approximately an

average of 4 h a day on behaviors specically aimed at improving their

attractiveness, women reported spending an average of 23 more minutes

a day enhancing their beauty than did men. The effect size of this gender

difference was moderate compared to other predictors and in general,

corroborates the results of previous studies (see, e.g., Biesterbos et al.,

Table 1

Results of the multilevel linear model regressing time spent on beauty-enhancing

behaviors (the extended index with eight behaviors) on variables of interest with

participants nested within countries.

Fixed effects β SE 95% CI p

Country-level predictors

GDP (per capita) –0.015 0.038 [−0.090, 0.060] 0.694

Country’s Individualism –0.050 0.034 [−0.117, 0.017] 0.146

Country’s Gender Equality –0.073 0.033 [−0.137,

−0.009]

0.025

Country’s Pathogen

Prevalence 0.044 0.033 [−0.021, 0.109] 0.185

Individual-level predictors

Gender

0.083 0.010 [0.064, 0.103] <0.001

Age –0.103 0.021 [−0.144,

−0.061] <0.001

Age

0.114 0.019 [0.077, 0.151] <0.001

Relationship Status

0.013 0.004 [0.006, 0.020] <0.001

Individual Pathogen History 0.056 0.003 [0.049, 0.063] <0.001

Gender Role Equality –0.123 0.004 [−0.130,

−0.116] <0.001

Time on Social Media 0.143 0.004 [0.136, 0.150] <0.001

Time Watching TV 0.066 0.003 [0.059, 0.072] <0.001

Individualism 0.016 0.003 [0.009, 0.022] <0.001

Self-assessed Attractiveness 0.089 0.003 [0.083, 0.096] <0.001

Education –0.027 0.004 [−0.034,

−0.019] <0.001

Political Views 0.032 0.003 [0.025, 0.039] <0.001

Socioeconomic Status 0.049 0.003 [0.042, 0.056] <0.001

Random effects Variance SD

Intercept 0.027 0.164

Gender 0.019 0.137

Age 0.005 0.068

Men as a reference group.

Single individuals as a reference group, ICC =0.036, Pseudo r

=0.164,

residuals

=71,081, deviance =176,329.4, all VIFs below 4.49 (M =1.01, SD =

1.19).

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2013; Corson, 1972; Ficheux et al., 2016; Gunn, 1973). For instance,

cosmetics generally increase women’s attractiveness as rated by them-

selves (Anchieta et al., 2021) and by others (e.g., Tagai, Ohtaka, and

Nittono, 2016). Future studies are still needed to disentangle whether

the main motive to increase one’s attractiveness for women is to attract

other mates, retain a current mate (Davis and Arnocky, 2020), increase

one’s social status (Bradshaw and DelPriore, 2021), or a combination of

these and other factors.

Fig. 4. A summary of the hypotheses and results with effect sizes (standardized coefcients; Lorah, 2018), ordered from the largest effect sizes (largest dots;

standardized coefcients from 0.100 up), through to moderate effect sizes (medium-sized dots; standardized coefcients from 0.050 to 0.099), to the smallest effect

sizes (smallest dots; standardized coefcients from 0.049 or less; dashes represent non-signicant associations).

M. Kowal et al.

Evolution and Human Behavior 43 (2022) 455–474

466

Apart from cosmetics usage, we show that many other activities are

undertaken across cultures to increase physical attractiveness (Davis and

Arnocky, 2020). One such activity is physical exercise. Previous studies

found that men exercise more than women do (Deaner and Smith, 2013;

Hsu and Valentova, 2020; Mafra, Castro, and Lopes, 2016; Sallis,

Zakarian, Hovell, and Hofstetter, 1996), and that men’s motivation to

exercise, at least in part, stems from their desire to increase their

attractiveness (Antonova and Merenkov, 2020). We observed the same

pattern of results in our study. The mating market perspective provides a

plausible explanation for this phenomenon: physical training increases

male formidability and strength, which, in ancestral times, were related

both directly and indirectly to ancestral males’ and their partners’

tness (Sell et al., 2009; von Rueden et al., 2008). Strength is often

closely connected to men’s bodily attractiveness (Lidborg, Cross, &

Boothroyd, 2022; Sell, Lukazsweski, and Townsley, 2017), as is

muscularity (Frederick and Haselton, 2007). Fat-free muscle mass has

been linked to having more sex partners (Lassek and Gaulin, 2009).

However, when all types of activities aimed at increasing one’s beauty

were considered here, it was still women who spent more time daily

enhancing their appearance compared to men, which conrms the rst

hypothesis.

The current study partly corroborated our second hypothesis. The

results showed a U-shaped relationship between the intensity of beauty-

enhancing behaviors and age, but only among women. This implies that

middle-aged women spent the least amount of time improving their

attractiveness (see Fig. 3). To put this into perspective, 18-year-old

women spent 63 more minutes a day enhancing their appearance than

did 44-year old women, whereas 60-year-old women spent 30 more

minutes than did 44-year old women, on average. This effect size was

large compared to other predictors. According to the mate preferences

perspective, younger individuals of reproductive age should be more

interested in attracting potential mates because their own reproductive

potential is relatively high (Fitzgerald et al., 1998; World Health Orga-

nization, 2006). Once reaching a certain age, an individual may realize

the footprint of time on their face and body (e.g., wrinkles, graying hair,

weight gain; Winterich, 2007). Ficheux et al. (2016) found that older

French people used more cosmetics than their younger counterparts.

Women aged 40 years or older who wear make-up appear younger than

same-aged women who do not wear make-up (Russell et al., 2019),

though this effect is not present among women aged 30 years or less.

Notably, the perceived adverse effects of time on appearance are often

more severe in the case of women than men (Gerbner, Gross, Signorielli,

Fig. 5. Standardized time spent enhancing beauty across ages and gender (i.e., women and men).

M. Kowal et al.

Evolution and Human Behavior 43 (2022) 455–474

467

and Morgan, 1980; Lauzen and Dozier, 2005), which is in line with the

results of the present study, as age was unrelated to time spent

enhancing attractiveness by men.

Surprisingly, we found evidence against the third hypothesis: being

in a relationship was linked to more, not less, intense beauty-enhancing

behaviors. However, after a closer inspection, we observed that dating

individuals spent more time improving their appearance than did single

people (on average 24 min more a day), married people (26 min more),

and individuals in committed relationships (29 min more). This result is

especially interesting, as it may explain the inconsistent ndings of past

research (see, e.g., Fisher et al., 2009; Mafra et al., 2020; Miguel and

Buss, 2011; Perilloux and Buss, 2008). The mating market perspective

surmises that individuals who are not pair-bonded are highly interested

in nding a potential mate (Buss, 2015). Hence, dating individuals may

fall into this category, as they are actively pursuing a potential partner.

Conversely, individuals in committed relationships including marriage

are already pair-bonded, and thus, are typically less interested in nding

a new mate. At the same time, single individuals may opt not to pursue a

mate and conscientiously decline using any strategies (including self-

modication) to acquire one. The present results do question previous

hypotheses on improving one’s appearance as a tactic to retain current

partners (Davis and Arnocky, 2020). It seems that such a motive, among

many others previously identied in the literature, such as intrasexual

competition (Mafra et al., 2020; Varella, Valentova, and Fern´

andez,

2017), social prestige (Mileva, 2016), and status-seeking (Blake, 2021),

might be less pronounced compared to the motive of attracting a po-

tential partner. Thus, to disentangle the inuence of relationship status

on beauty enhancing behaviors, researchers should control the type of

relationship more specically–not only controlling whether individuals

are in a relationship, but also whether they are currently courting.

4.2. Pathogen prevalence

We found evidence for the fth hypothesis and less consistent evi-

dence for the fourth. Individuals with a more severe history of trans-

mittable diseases spent relatively more time improving their

appearance, but the relationship between country-level pathogen

prevalence and beauty-enhancing behaviors only emerged when using

the pathogen prevalence index from Fincher et al. (2008), but not from

Murray and Schaller (2010). The effect size for the individual level

Fig. 6. Standardized time spent enhancing beauty across relationship status (i.e., single, dating, in a committed relationship, and married) and gender (i.e., women

and men). Note. Error bars represent standard errors.

M. Kowal et al.

Evolution and Human Behavior 43 (2022) 455–474

468

pathogen history was moderate compared to other predictors. Interest-

ingly, the link between time spent enhancing one’s attractiveness and

individual history of transmittable diseases was more pronounced for

men than women. It is noteworthy that the immunosuppressive effects

of circulating testosterone, that are higher in men than women, may

make men more vulnerable to pathogens than women (Furman et al.,

2014; Gieng-Kr¨

oll, Berger, Lepperdinger, and Grubeck-Loebenstein,

2015).

The pathogen prevalence index (Murray and Schaller, 2010), which

was introduced as a country-level predictor variable, was drawn from

historical data on the severity of transmittable diseases in given coun-

tries. It may be that the effects of modernization and globalization are

slowly leveling traditional inequalities in access to health care. Thus,

countries that struggled with severe diseases in the past (e.g., Burkina

Faso, Burundi, and the Central African Republic; Bhargava, Jamison,

Lau, and Murray, 2001) may now provide better healthcare for their

citizens (WHO, 2000). We conclude that it might be preferred to

consider more contemporary approaches to computing pathogen prev-

alence (Fincher et al., 2008) when analyzing phenomena that are

strongly affected by the current socio-environmental conditions more

than those of the distant past (i.e., behaviors aimed at increasing one’s

physical attractiveness; Blake, 2022; Mafra et al., 2020).

When considering an individual’s history of pathogen stress, we

observed that those who suffered from more transmittable diseases in

their lifetimes also spent more time enhancing their beauty than did

those who reported a more favorable health history. On average, those

who suffered from one or more diseases spent as much as 1.5 h more

improving their appearance compared to those who did not encounter

any severe infections in their lifetimes. Physical attractiveness can

indicate the absence of underlying diseases (Tybur and Gangestad,

2011; but see Jones, Holzleitner, and Shiramizu, 2021), and it may be

that people are aware of this link (Gray and Boothroyd, 2012; Hender-

son and Anglin, 2003). Indeed, Fink et al. (2017) showed that ratings of

facial healthiness correlate with ratings of facial attractiveness. On the

other hand, individuals who are perceived as unhealthy and less

attractive might evoke negative psychological and physiological re-

sponses (e.g., disgust; Principe and Langlois, 2011; Schein and Langlois,

2015). Individuals who have undergone severe diseases may have more

visible perceived imperfections (e.g., asymmetries or awed skin con-

dition; Samson, Fink, and Matts, 2010). As evidenced by Wakeda,

Okamura, Kawahara, and Heike (2020), such individuals might be more

motivated to cover these imperfections to present themselves as

healthier (and more attractive) than they actually are. An alternative but

not mutually exclusive explanation would be that performing beauty-

enhancing behaviors by individuals who suffered from infectious dis-

eases might simply take more time than performing those same behavior

by their counterparts who did not suffer from health and body devas-

tating diseases. While using make-up is a relatively simple behavior for

women, men might have to go to greater lengths to achieve the same

level of attractiveness enhancement, hence the observed larger effect

sizes for men than women with a history of pathogen stress. However,

one needs to keep in mind that relatively few individuals have suffered

from any of the nine transmittable diseases tested here, and thus, this

result needs to be cautiously interpreted.

4.3. Biosocial role theory

We found support for both the sixth and seventh hypotheses: women

from countries with lower (vs. higher) gender equality and women

conforming (vs. not conforming) to traditional gender roles spent more

time enhancing their attractiveness. Interestingly, the effect size for

gender role equality on an individual-level was large, while moderate on

a country-level. Our results align with early studies demonstrating a link

between attitudes toward gender roles and attitudes toward one’s body

(Freedman, 1984; Striegel-Moore, Silberstein, and Rodin, 1986). Jack-

son, Sullivan, and Rostker (1988) observed that cultural standards about

beauty affect women who adhere to stereotypical gender roles more

than they affect those who have less favorable attitudes toward stereo-

typical gender roles. Furthermore, Shipley, O’donnell, and Bader (1977)

provided evidence that women who decided to augment their breasts

through an invasive surgery were more prone to comply with traditional

gender roles than were women in the control group.

Women from more gender-equal countries and with more gender-

equal personal attitudes may be less pressured to comply with the

belief that beauty is a prerequisite of the feminine gender role (Buote

et al., 2011; Fredrickson and Roberts, 1997). Instead, they may fulll

themselves differently, going beyond the traditional feminine stereotype

(Jameson, 2012). The role of gender equality on beauty ideals is an

active and important avenue of research that must now aim to include

women from a broader range of cultures. Our results show similar re-

lationships are also found among men. The more gender-equal the

country and the higher men’s individual levels of endorsement of gender

equal roles, the less time men spent enhancing their physical attrac-

tiveness. This result is especially interesting when considering that,

stereotypically and traditionally, men are thought to be less interested in

their appearance relative to women (IIsser, 2020). However, other fac-

tors may come into play for such men. For instance, because upper body

strength has been hypothesized to serve an important role in our

evolutionary past (Puts, 2010), and still today, more muscularized men

are considered more masculine (McCreary, Saucier, and Courtenay,

2005). Hence, men who wish to be perceived as masculine may be

particularly interested in performing physical exercises (Galli, Petrie,

Reel, Chatterton, and Baghurst, 2014; Yeung, Massar, and Jonas, 2021).

Attaining a muscular body might be less important for men who do not

conform to stereotypical gender roles (Readdy, Cardinal, and Watkins,

2011).

Considering all men and women in our study, those from the least

gender-equal countries devoted on average one and a half hours more

improving their attractiveness compared to those from the most gender-

equal countries. This gap was even larger for individual-level endorse-

ment of gender roles. Participants who had the lowest scores on the

gender equality scale (that is, those who supported gender roles)

devoted on average two hours more per day enhancing their physical

attractiveness compared to those who had the highest scores on the

gender equality scale (that is, those who did not support traditional

gender roles).

4.4. Cultural media perspective

Results of the current study support both the eighth and nineth hy-

potheses: individuals who spent more time on social media and watch-

ing TV also spent more time enhancing their attractiveness. Most

researchers agree that the media often conveys unrealistic physical

ideals (Barlett, Vowels, and Saucier, 2008; Levine and Murnen, 2009;

Thompson and Stice, 2001), that are also often unattainable for the

average person (Grogan, 2016). Confronting one’s body with the photo-

retouched silhouettes of models may trigger many negative feelings and

behaviors, including anxiety, depressive symptoms, body dissatisfac-

tion, and eating disorders (Fardouly and Vartanian, 2015; Mills, Musto,

Williams, and Tiggemann, 2018). Apart from evoking affective re-

sponses, watching idealized media images may also expose one to more

advertisements aimed at appearance-enhancing products and may in

turn increase a willingness to comply with the widespread canon of

beauty (de Vries, Peter, Nikken, and de Graaf, 2014; Gambla, Fernandez,

Gassman, Tan, and Daniel, 2017), that, presumably, may help to explain

the strong link between media exposure and time spent improving one’s

attractiveness in the current research. However, given the correlational

nature of this research, we cannot rule out the possibility that the di-

rection of causality may be reversed, such that people who choose to

invest more time improving their appearance are thus more prone to use

social media, or the possibility that a third unknown factor may explain

the link between beauty-enhancing behaviors and social media usage.

M. Kowal et al.

Evolution and Human Behavior 43 (2022) 455–474

469

Interestingly, we observed that spending time on social media was

more strongly related to enhancing one’s beauty than was watching TV.

In fact, social media usage was the strongest predictor of beauty-

enhancing behaviors among all predictors. Furthermore, watching TV

was more strongly related to physical attractiveness enhancing behav-

iors among women than men, while social media usage explained more

variance in these behaviors among men than women. These results are

in line with those of previous studies (see e.g., Sampasa-Kanyinga,

Colman, Goldeld, Hamilton, and Chaput, 2020; Sorokowski et al.,

2016). We also found that participants who spent the most time

watching TV spent 1 h more time daily enhancing their attractiveness

than did those who spent the least amount of time watching TV, on

average. In comparison, those who spent the most time on social media

spent 2 h more per day improving their looks than did those who spent

the least amount of time on social media, on average.

Our results seem to corroborate those of previous studies high-

lighting an exceptionally strong negative link between social media

usage and well-being, that is particularly worrisome given the stark rise

in social media usage in the past decade. For instance, engaging in social

media activity is linked to negative mood (Mills et al., 2018), poor ac-

ademic performance (Abdulahi, Jalil, Lumpur, Samadi, and Gharleghi,

2014), chronic sleep deprivation (Abi-Jaoude, Naylor, and Pignatiello,

2020), and the possible emergence of depression, anxiety, and other

mental disorders (Cataldo, Lepri, Neoh, and Esposito, 2021). Although

some studies focus on counteracting these adverse effects (see, e.g.,

Fardouly and Holland, 2018; Tiggemann and Anderberg, 2020), more

actions, especially from policymakers, are needed to protect the mental

health of social media users.

4.5. Individualism-collectivism continuum

We found support for the eleventh but not tenth hypotheses: personal

individualistic attitudes were positively related to the amount of time

spent enhancing one’s beauty, but country-level individualism scores

were not. However, the effect size for individual-level attitudes toward

individualism and collectivism was negligible compared to other pre-

dictors. Moreover, this effect was mainly driven by women, as the

individualism score was not related to time spent enhancing attrac-

tiveness among men. The most individualistically oriented women spent

half an hour more time improving their attractiveness than the most

collectivistically-oriented women, on average.

Interestingly, our results contradict some previous ndings. For

instance, recent statistics revealed that people in Asia, where collec-

tivism is, on average, more common than individualism, vigorously

pursue beauty standards and spend the most money on skincare (Euro-

monitor, 2021), even compared with the leading Western economies

that are more individualistic (e.g., USA or UK). Furthermore, one-third

of women between the ages of 19 and 29 from South Korea (a collec-

tivistic country) report undergoing aesthetic surgery (Gallup Korea,

2015; Hu, 2018). On the other hand, although individuals adhering to

more individualistic values may be less prone to undergoing plastic

surgeries (Frederick and Gan, 2015), as it is less of a cultural norm

compared to some more collectivistic Asian countries (Heidekrueger

et al., 2017), people with individualistic attitudes might nevertheless be

more willing to perform other types of activities explored in the current

study (e.g., body hygiene, caring for diet, exercising, hair grooming,

clothing style).

4.6. Other factors

We observed a positive link between time spent enhancing beauty

and higher socioeconomic status (stronger effect for men), lower edu-

cation (but only among women), right-wing political beliefs (but only

among women), and a U-shaped relationship for self-assessed attrac-

tiveness (stronger effect for men). Notably, only self-assessed attrac-

tiveness was moderately linked to self-modication, while the

remaining predictors (socioeconomic status, attained level of education,

and political beliefs) had small effect sizes.

Previous research has produced conicting results about the rela-

tionship between self-assessed attractiveness and beauty-enhancing

behaviors. On one hand, individuals with higher self-esteem (which is

a predictor of higher self-assessed attractiveness; Bale, 2010) reported

using fewer cosmetics (Fares et al., 2019). On the other hand, in-

dividuals who considered themselves more attractive spent more time

improving their looks (Antonova and Merenkov, 2020). Our results shed

more light on this matter by providing evidence that those who believe

in their very high attractiveness care the most for their appearance,

followed by those who consider themselves as very unattractive, with

those who believe they look average spending the least amount of time

improving their attractiveness. As we cannot infer causation from cor-

relation, future studies could experimentally investigate whether

enhancing one’s beauty increases self-assessed attractiveness or rather

that more beautiful individuals are more willing to increase (or main-

tain) their attractiveness (for some preliminary evidence on the rst

prediction, see Anchieta et al., 2021).

As for the explanation of other predictors, we hypothesize that in-

dividuals of a relatively higher socioeconomic status may have more

time and money to improve their appearance, whereas higher education

may work as a buffer against focusing excessively on one’s appearance,

while instead focusing on other traits and skills. Nevertheless, high ed-

ucation is usually linked to higher socioeconomic status (Boshara,

Emmons, and Noeth, 2015), so the opposite results for these two vari-

ables require investigation in further studies. Finally, regarding political

views, is it possible that physical attractiveness might be more important

for relatively more conservative individuals. For instance, some re-

searchers have found that right-wing politicians appear more attractive

than left-wing politicians (Berggren, Jordahl, and Poutvaara, 2010) and

right-wing political beliefs tend to be conservative (Karwowski et al.,

2020). This hypothesis likewise requires further investigation.

4.7. Summary, limitations, and future directions

Several decades ago, a preoccupation with one’s body image was

thought to be a typically female issue (van Lennep, 1957). However,

more recent studies provide converging evidence that men also care for

their looks (Antonova and Merenkov, 2020; Kowal and Sorokowski,

2022; Mafra et al., 2016). Indeed, we show that only 0.003% of women

or men indicate not doing anything to improve their appearance, and

only 1% (among whom half were men) report spending <10 min a day

enhancing their beauty. In comparison, 99% of the nearly one-hundred

thousand people in our cross-cultural sample report spending >10 min a

day enhancing their physical appearance, and on average around 4 h

daily. Thus, we conclude that beauty-enhancing behavior is a universal

phenomenon.

This may not come as a surprise, as previous studies provide abun-

dant evidence that attractiveness can be benecial in manifold ways and

that humans are concerned with physical attractiveness, largely because

of the social and reproductive benets it can confer. For instance, more

attractive individuals are often treated more positively (Langlois et al.,

2000), are preferred as potential partners (Walter et al., 2020) and

friends (Vannatta, Gartstein, Zeller, and Noll, 2009; Zakin, 1983), are

perceived as healthier (Fink et al., 2017) and as more competent (Etcoff,

Stock, Haley, Vickery, and House, 2011), are more likely to be hired for

jobs (Cash and Kilcullen, 1985), earn higher tips as servers (Parrett,

2015), earn higher salaries both at the early stage of the career (Dos-

singer, Wanberg, Choi, and Leslie, 2019) and from a lifetime perspective

(Scholz and Sicinski, 2015), are more popular as athletes (Mutz and

Meier, 2016), receive a higher endorsement in politics (Berggren et al.,

2010), and report higher psychological well-being and lower levels of

distress and depression (Gupta, Etcoff, and Jaeger, 2016).

However, when it comes to factors linked to the intensity of beauty-

enhancing behaviors, the matter becomes more complex, as many

M. Kowal et al.

Evolution and Human Behavior 43 (2022) 455–474

470

aspects come into play. Apart from evolutionary theory, here we provide

support for several other perspectives that have attempted to describe

and explain who devotes more energy to enhancing one’s appearance,

and why. Importantly, these theories are not mutually exclusive.

Instead, when considering them jointly, they offer a valuable and

extensive (but not exhaustive) theoretical framework for analyzing ac-

tivities aimed at increasing one’s looks. Each perspective adds another

piece to the puzzle by suggesting a distinctive (and as our results show, a

signicant) explanation for why a given social or demographic group

should be particularly interested in improving their beauty. The mate

preference perspective appeals to the human evolutionary past and

sexual selection pressures that have shaped different mating strategies

between the sexes (Buss, 2015; Tooby, 2018; Tooby and Cosmides,

1990; Walter et al., 2020). The pathogen prevalence approach suggests

that humans have an evolved ability to detect cues of transmittable

diseases, especially in pathogen-rich environments (Murray and Schal-

ler, 2010), and one way to advertise one’s health (i.e., a lack of patho-

gens) is through improving one’s physical appearance (Tybur and

Gangestad, 2011). The biosocial role theory concerns the inuence of

physiological differences and gender constructs on forming the pro-

pensity of women to comply with the pursuit of feminine beauty (Eagly

and Wood, 1999; Wood and Eagly, 2012). The cultural media approach

relates to the inuence of mass media in pressuring people to conform to

the westernized canon of beauty (Murnen and Seabrook, 2012; Stephens

et al., 1994; Xu et al., 2010). The individualism-collectivism continuum

refers to how an individual relies on others, either caring more for the

welfare of their group or caring more for their personal aspirations and

goals (Markus and Kitayama, 1991), which may be consequential when

devoting time and energy to one’s appearance.

Although the current study sheds new light on beauty-enhancing

behaviors, it is not free of limitations. First, the research was conduct-

ed mostly with the use of virtual survey tools, rather than in person.

Many researchers highlight the importance of advanced methods for

screening and ltering careless responses in online surveys (see, e.g.,

DeSimone, Harms, and DeSimone, 2015; Wood, Harms, Lowman, and

DeSimone, 2017) and thus, we excluded responses from participants

who failed the attention check. Second, while our sample included a

large number of countries (i.e., 93), it is not exhaustively representative

of all human cultures. Moreover, even less representative are samples

from less modernized countries, where access to Internet is relatively

more limited than in more industrialized countries, in turn limiting the

probability of participants from such samples being invited to partici-

pate in the study (Batres and Perrett, 2014). Third, our participants were

primarily well-educated (65% obtained a bachelor’s degree or higher),

and most of them were women (67%). Fourth, our data are not experi-

mental and thus, no causal conclusions can be made. Further studies

could include a longitudinal design to explore intra-individual vari-

ability of self-modication practices. Fifth, most of our participants were

cis-gender and heterosexual. It is important to replicate the present

study on a more sexually diverse sample. Future studies could also

provide some interesting insight on self-modication in dyadic re-

lationships, depending on the partners’ mate value: does a larger gap

between the mate values of partners predict more intense beauty-

investments? Sixth, although we emphasized to participants in written

instructions to indicate time spent on a given beauty-enhancing activity

only if it is performed for appearance-enhancing reasons (and not, for

example, for health reasons), we cannot exclude the possibility that

some participants miscounted time spent on various activities. Indeed,

our study’s greatest limitation is self-reported data, which is susceptible

to biases and errors.

Our open-access dataset provides an excellent opportunity to further

test a manifold of interesting hypotheses. Therefore, we encourage

scholars to analyze it (the dataset is publicly available under the link htt

ps://osf.io/sh3an/) to shed even more light on attractiveness enhancing

behaviors. One could, for instance, focus on the relationship between

activities aimed at increasing one’s appearance and country-level

variables, such as income inequality (Blake and Brooks, 2019) or the

modernization index (Zhang and He, 2015), and individual-level vari-

ables pertaining to, for instance, partners’ relationships, such as dura-

bility of marriages (Parker, Durante, Hill, and Haselton, 2022) and

marital satisfaction (Kowal, Groyecka-Bernard, Kochan-W´

ojcik, and

Sorokowski, 2021). Finally, it is important to emphasize that the

established boundaries among the theoretical perspectives examined in

this study are in fact blurry, as the theories share many similarities in

their rationale for beauty-enhancing behaviors. The theories thus pro-

vide a framework for hypothesis testing and should not necessarily be

considered as opposing one another, but rather, as complementary.

4.8. Conclusions

Despite its limitations, the current research represents the largest

investigation of predictors of self-enhancing physical attractiveness,

testing hypotheses drawn from ve non-mutually exclusive theoretical

frameworks, based on data from 93,158 participants across 93 countries.

As such, it takes an important step toward understanding the consistency

and variability in attractiveness enhancing behaviors across cultures or

demographic groups, alongside factors operating at the individual level.

The main strength of this research is its cross-cultural nature and large

sample size, which allows for weighing claims of different theories and

examining factors that explain the most variance in activities aimed at

improving one’s appearance. We believe that a more nuanced under-

standing of the phenomenon of beauty enhancement may translate into

developing more effective ways to counteract the negative inuence of

the uncontrolled pursuit of beauty.

Data availability statement

All data and Supplementary Materials have been made publicly

available at the Open Science Framework (OSF) and can be accessed at

https://osf.io/sh3an/.

Declaration of Competing interest

None.

Acknowledgments

The authors disclosed receipt of the following nancial support for

the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article:

This work is the result of the research project funded by the National

Science Center, Poland (2019/33/N/HS6/00054).

Dmitry Grigoryev was supported by the Basic Research Program at

the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE

University).

Dmitrii Dubrov was supported by the Basic Research Program at HSE

University, RF.

Patrícia Arriaga was supported by the FCT through funds from the

research center UID/PSI/03125/2021. Anabela C. Santos was supported

by the FCT through funds from a PhD grant SFRH/BD/126304/2016.

Kavitha Nalla Muthu and Chee-Seng Tan were supported by the

UTAR Research Centre Excellence Award 2019 – CAP (6401/0019) from

the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman.

The authors would like to thank the following scholars for their help

with the translation: Christin-Melanie Vauclair Melanie, C´

atia Carvalho,

Diogo Lamela, Elena Piccinelli, and Isabel Pinto (Portuguese), Stanislava

Stoyanova (Bulgarian), Vira Hrabchuk and Anne MacFarlane (Ukrai-

nian). The authors would also like to thank the following organizations

and individuals for their help with organizing data collection in El Sal-

vador: the Escuela de Comunicaci´

on M´

onica Herrera, Directora Nicole

Paetz, asistente María Erlinda ´

Avalos, Diego Infante, and Gabriela

Quintanilla.

M. Kowal et al.

Evolution and Human Behavior 43 (2022) 455–474

471

Appendix A. Supplementary data

Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.

org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.08.003.

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Jun 2023

Talatu Salihu Ahmadu

This paper examines the role of demographic variables in predicting civic engagement. Precisely, it looks at the relative importance of religion and gender in predicting the likelihood of citizenship norms, political efficacy and civic engagement. The data used in this study were collected from a sample of 355 Nigerian undergraduates. Using t-test analysis and ANOVA, this study established that gender and religion, had partial predictive power in determining civic engagement of students. Specifically, result indicated that students’ political efficacy demonstrated that male (M=3.67, SD= 0.60) and female (M=3.36, SD= 0.69) had a substantial difference between them (t = 5.955, p= .015 < 0.05). Similarly, statistically significant difference occurred in civic engagement of students (F=3.452, p=0.032 < 0.05) based on religion. These findings have implications for scholars to conduct longitudinal studies that trace the civic engagement of students generally in universities.

Mate assessment based on physical characteristics: a review and reflection

Article

Aug 2024
BIOL REV

Christopher D Watkins

Mate choice, and sex differences in romantic behaviours, represented one of the first major applications of evolutionary biology to human behaviour. This paper reviews Darwinian approaches to heterosexual mate assessment based on physical characteristics, placing the literature in its historical context (1871-1979), before turning (predominantly) to psychological research on attractiveness judgements based on physical characteristics. Attractiveness is consistently inferred across multiple modalities, with biological theories explaining why we differentiate certain individuals, on average, from others. Simultaneously, it is a judgement that varies systematically in light of our own traits, environment, and experiences. Over 30 years of research has generated robust effects alongside reasons to be humble in our lack of understanding of the precise physiological mechanisms involved in mate assessment. This review concludes with three questions to focus attention in further research, and proposes that our romantic preferences still provide a critical window into the evolution of human sexuality.

The cross-modal integration process in facial attractiveness judgments

Article

Jan 2024

To Enhance, or not to Enhance: The Situational Context Shapes Women's Intentions on Amount and Diligence of Makeup Application

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2023

Makeup is a tool that women use to shape their image and gain benefits in both inter-and intrasexual selection. As makeup enables the hiding or enhancing of facial features, it allows women to strategically shape impressions in a given context. It affects interpersonal perceptions, workplace impressions, and can attract romantic partners. However, research has primarily focused on examining everyday makeup use, although the amount and type of makeup can vary depending on the situation and the motivation to make an impression. In two studies, we investigated how the intended amount and application of makeup differ depending on various situational contexts. Specifically, in Study 1 (N = 533), we explored the everyday and party contexts, while in Study 2 (N = 400), we additionally introduced the contexts of mating and threat. The results show that: 1) women intend to put on more makeup in a more diligent way in party contexts compared to everyday contexts, 2) the intended diligence of makeup application is the highest in contexts were women expect an attractive man to be present, and the lowest when a threatening context is introduced, 3) these effects are partially or fully mediated by women's motivation to make an impression, and 4) neither socio-sexual orientation nor appearance orientation significantly moderated the obtained effects. Our studies extend previous research on makeup application as an appearance-enhancing or worsening strategy by further investigating the signaling function of women's makeup and its strategic use in various situational contexts. We discuss the results from a functional evolutionary perspective.

Toward an Understanding of Risk Factors for Bulimia

Article

Full-text available

Mar 1986

The purpose of this article is to integrate diverse research efforts in an attempt to move toward an understanding of risk factors for bulimia. For this task, three questions in particular require attention. Because 90% of bulimics are women, a first question to address is, Why women? Second, despite the high prevalence of dieting and weight concerns among women in general, it is still a minority who evidence the clinical syndrome of bulimia, leading to the question, Which women in particular? These questions are considered from a range of perspectives—sociocultural, developmental, psychological, and biological. Third, the rapidly increasing prevalence of bulimia in recent years raises yet another question, Why now? Our analysis points to research questions that must be examined before we can expand our understanding of the etiology of bulimia.

Sex Differences in Physical Attractiveness Investments: Overlooked Side of Masculinity

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2022
Int J Environ Res Publ Health

Background: Public opinion on who performs more beauty-enhancing behaviors (men or women) seems unanimous. Women are often depicted as primarily interested in how they look, opposed to men, who are presumably less focused on their appearance. However, previous studies might have overlooked how masculinity relates to self-modification among men. Methods: We explored this issue in depth by conducting a qualitative Study 1 aimed to establish how men and women enhance their attractiveness (N = 121) and a quantitative Study 2 aimed to test time spent on activities that increase one's attractiveness in a longitudinal design (with seven repeated measures from 62 participants; N(total) = 367). Results: We observed no sex differences in beauty investments. Although women spent more time on make-up and cosmetics usage, men caught up with women in exercising and bodybuilding. Conclusion: Our study provides evidence that there may not be such wide sex differences in the intensity of enhancing one's appearance as has been previously thought. We hypothesize that this might partly stem from changes in gender roles regarding masculinity.

A meta-analysis of the association between male dimorphism and fitness outcomes in humans

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2022
eLife

Humans are sexually dimorphic: men and women differ in body build and composition, craniofacial structure, and voice pitch, likely mediated in part by developmental testosterone. Sexual selection hypotheses posit that, ancestrally, more 'masculine' men may have acquired more mates and/or sired more viable offspring. Thus far, however, evidence for either association is unclear. Here, we meta-analyze the relationships between six masculine traits and mating/reproductive outcomes (96 studies, 474 effects, N = 177,044). Voice pitch, height, and testosterone all predicted mating; however, strength/muscularity was the strongest and only consistent predictor of both mating and reproduction. Facial masculinity and digit ratios did not significantly predict either. There was no clear evidence for any effects of masculinity on offspring viability. Our findings support arguments that strength/muscularity may be sexually selected in humans, but cast doubt regarding selection for other forms of masculinity and highlight the need to increase tests of evolutionary hypotheses outside of industrialized populations.

Makeup and Its Application Simulation Affect Women’s Self-Perceptions

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2021
ARCH SEX BEHAV

Appearance modification is ancient, universal and influences other and self-perceptions. It has been rarely addressed how expectation of appearance modification would affect women’s self-perception. We analyzed self-assessments of women without makeup and after having makeup professionally applied at four increasing levels (light, moderate, heavy 1, and heavy 2 makeup). In the simulation phase, women were treated with colorless cosmetics. Fifty Brazilian women (Mage = 24.26 years; SD = 5.53) rated themselves on attractiveness, health, self-esteem, femininity, satisfaction with appearance, age, dominance, confidence, and competence in all experimental conditions. Women in the simulation phase considered themselves more feminine, healthier, and with higher self-esteem than without makeup. In the real makeup phases, these ratings were higher than in the simulation phase. Appearance satisfaction and attractiveness did not differ between simulation and the real makeup phases, both being higher than without makeup. Confidence increased only in real makeup phases, but there was no effect on competence. Thus, real appearance modification and/or an expectation thereof can differently affect specific domains of self-evaluation.

Perceived Personal Attractiveness and Self-Improvement Practices

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2020

The article discusses the results of a sociological survey of personal attractiveness perceptions and self-improvement practices (exercise, dieting, plastic surgery, learning, etc.) in Yekaterinburg (Russia). The purpose of the research is to identify age-and gender-related similarities and differences in the perceptions of attractive appearance and personality traits among Russians. The survey was conducted in 2019 and covered 680 people of both sexes and different age groups. It also included 33 in-depth interviews with respondents from different age groups. The survey results have shown that people resort to various practices for enhancing their physical shape and personality in accordance with established stereotypes of outer and inner beauty. Younger generations of Russians continue to reproduce gender asymmetry in their ideas of feminine and male beauty. The research has also brought to light a new system of gender inequality: women appear to be much more active in their pursuit of a healthy body and personality growth than men. Inhabitants of Yekaterinburg most frequently resort to such self-improvement practices as exercise and healthy eating. People in all age groups gave lower ratings to such qualities as stamina and productivity at work, which shows their lack of awareness of the role these attributes play in acquiring new knowledge and skills in the digital age. 92 Natalya L. Antonova, Anatoly V. Merenkov

Men and muscularity research: a review

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2021

Over the past 25 years, understanding males’ interest in and outcomes of muscularity has developed into a major area of study. Research has been fueled by the development of measures of both the attitudinal and behavioral aspects of a desire to increase muscularity. Our research purpose was to critically assess muscularity research. Using a database search, the ancestry approach, and searching key journals, we identified empirical refereed journal articles with men as participants published from 2000 to 2019 to serve as our data. Our analyses revealed several individual characteristics (e.g., perfectionism, holding to traditional masculine norms) and socio-cultural influences (e.g., media, verbal commentary) that fueled men’s desire to be muscular. In experimental research, exposure to muscular male ideal images has resulted in low body image scores for young men in investigations that utilized pre-test, post-test designs. In survey research, muscularity was positively related to several risky behaviors or behaviors that could become risky if taken to the extreme. Overall, the reviewed research was conducted in western countries and researchers primarily utilized non-probability samples of undergraduate men. Recommendations for future research are provided.

Fashions in Makeup: From Ancient to Modern Times

Book

Jan 2010

Richard Corson

In this highly praised volume, Richard Corson chronicles the pursuit of beauty from Ancient Egypt to the present day. Concentrating mainly on makeup traditions of the Western world, with some examples from other countries included for comparison. Corson describes the cosmetics with which men and women have decorated their faces, how they have applied them, and what they looked like as a result. It is an essential reference for students, makeup artists, costume designers, actors, illustrators, beauty consultants, social historians and all those interested in the use and application of cosmetics. Fashions in Makeup: From Ancient to Modern Times also makes fascinating reading for all those more generally interested in the subject.

Does facial attractiveness really signal immunocompetence?

Article

Oct 2021
TRENDS COGN SCI

The dominant theory of facial attractiveness judgments is that they evolved to identify healthy individuals with strong immune systems. Here, we summarize results of recent tests of this hypothesis, concluding that it has little compelling empirical support. We then propose an alternative perspective that emphasizes the effects of lifestyle health.

Do taxes and transfers reduce gender income inequality? Evidence from eight European welfare states

Article

Sep 2021
SOC SCI RES

We examine how taxes and transfers affect the incomes of men and women. Using microsimulation and intra-household income splitting rules, we measure the differences in the level and composition of individual disposable income by gender in eight European countries covering various welfare regime types. We quantify the extent to which taxes and transfers can counterbalance the gender gap in earnings, as well as which policy instruments contribute most to reducing the gender income gap. We find that with the exception of old-age public pensions, all taxes and transfers significantly reduce gender income inequality but cannot compensate for high gender earnings gaps. Our findings suggest that gender income equality is more likely to be achieved by promoting the universal/dual breadwinner model, whereby women's labour force participation and wages are on a par with men. To achieve this, men will likely need to work less and care more.

Why women choose divorce: An evolutionary perspective

Article

Feb 2022

In Western dual-educated, male-female marriages, women who divorce face greater burdens because of decreased income and primary or sole responsibility for caring for children than men who divorce. Why, then, do these women initiate divorce more and fare better psychologically after a divorce than men? Here, we articulate an evolutionary mismatch perspective, informed by key findings in relationship science. We argue that mismatches between women's evolved preferences and configurations of modern marriage often clash, producing dissatisfaction. Women's unprecedented career ascendance also affords women ever more freedom to leave. We discuss pressures from social expectations for men and women that contribute to or compound these vulnerabilities. We conclude with key questions for future research, which can contribute to strategies for mitigating relationship dissatisfaction and the profound loss and pain that results from divorce.

Predictors of enhancing human physical attractiveness: Data from 93 countries

Abstract and Figures

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Predictors of enhancing human physical attractiveness: Data from 93 countries

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