Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Politics of Beauty: The Effects of Partisan Bias on Physical Attractiveness

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Political Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Does politics cause people to be perceived as more or less attractive? As a type of social identity, party identifiers often exhibit in-group bias, positively evaluating members of their own party and, especially under conditions of competition, negatively evaluating out-party members. The current experiment tests whether political in-party and out-party status affects perceptions of the physical attractiveness of target persons. In a nationally representative internet sample of U.S. adults during the 2012 presidential election, we presented participants with photos of individuals and varied information about their presidential candidate preference. Results indicate that partisans, regardless of gender, rate target individuals as less attractive if they hold a dissimilar candidate preference. Female partisans, however, were more likely to rate target persons as more physically attractive when they held a similar candidate preference whereas no such effect was found for male partisans.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Data and code for replication of our analysis can be accessed at the Political Behavior dataverse: http://dx.doi.org/10.7910/DVN/XIPZQT.

  2. Party Registration and Party Identification are highly correlated (α = 0.91).

  3. The pictures are stock photos obtained from shutterstock.com.

References

  • Abramowitz, A. I., & Saunders, K. L. (2008). Is polarization a myth? Journal of Politics, 70(02), 542–555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alford, J. R., Hatemi, P. K., Hibbing, J. R., Martin, N. G., & Eaves, L. J. (2011). The politics of mate choice. Journal of Politics, 73(02), 362–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartels, L. M. (2002). Beyond the running tally: Partisan bias in political perceptions. Political Behavior, 24(2), 117–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolsen, T., Druckman, J. N., & Cook, F. L. (2014). The influence of partisan motivated reasoning on public opinion. Political Behavior, 36(2), 235–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, M. B. (1991). The social self: On being the same and different at the same time. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 17(5), 475–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bullock, J. G. (2011). Elite influence on public opinion in an informed electorate. American Political Science Review, 105(3), 496–515.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M. (1998). Sexual strategies theory: Historical origins and current status. Journal of Sex Research, 35(1), 19–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., Miller, W. E., & Stokes, D. E. (1960). The American Voter. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, F. F., & Kenrick, D. T. (2002). Repulsion or attraction? Group membership and assumed attitude similarity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(1), 111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Converse, P. E. (1964). The nature of belief systems in mass politics. In D. E. Apter (Ed.), Ideology and discontent (pp. 206–261). New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiorina, M. P., Abrams, S. J., & Pope, J. C. (2005). Culture war? The myth of a polarized America. New York: Pearson Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goren, P., Federico, C. M., & Kittilson, M. C. (2009). Source cues, partisan identities, and political value expression. American Journal of Political Science, 53(4), 805–820.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groenendyk, E. W. (2013). Competing motives in the partisan mind: How loyalty and responsiveness shape party identification and democracy. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hamermesh, D. S. (2011). Beauty pays: Why attractive people are more successful. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heit, E., & Nicholson, S. P. (2010). The opposite of Republican: Polarization and political categorization. Cognitive Science, 34(8), 1503–1516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hetherington, M. J. (2001). Resurgent mass partisanship: The role of elite polarization. American Political Science Review, 95(3), 619–631.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hetherington, M. J. (2015). Why polarized trust matters. The Forum, 13(3), 445–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hetherington, M. J., & Rudolph, T. J. (2015). Why Washington won’t work: Polarization, political trust, and the governing crisis. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hibbing, J. R., & Theiss-Morse, E. (2002). Stealth democracy: Americans’ beliefs about how government should work. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Huber, G., & Malhotra, N. (2013). Dimensions of political homophily: Isolating choice homophily along political characteristics. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association annual meeting, New Orleans, LA.

  • Huddy, L. (2001). From social to political identity: A critical examination of social identity theory. Political Psychology, 22(1), 127–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huddy, L., Mason, L., & Aarøe, L. (2015). Expressive partisanship: Campaign involvement, political emotion, and partisan identity. American Political Science Review, 109(1), 1–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iyengar, S., Sood, G., & Lelkes, Y. (2012). Affect, not ideology: A social identity perspective on polarization. Public Opinion Quarterly, 76(3), 405–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iyengar, S., & Westwood, S. J. (2015). Fear and loathing across party lines: New evidence on group polarization. American Journal of Political Science, 59(3), 690–707.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacoby, W. G. (1988). The impact of party identification on issue attitudes. American Journal of Political Science, 32(3), 643–661.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keith, B. E., Magleby, D. B., Nelson, C. J., Orr, E., & Westlye, M. C. (1992). The myth of the independent voter. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kernell, S., Jacobson, G. C., & Kousser, T. (2012). The logic of American politics (5th edn.). Los Angeles: CQ Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klar, S., & Krupnikov, Y. (2016). Independent politics: how American disdain for parties leads to political inaction. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Klofstad, C. A., McDermott, R., & Hatemi, P. K. (2012). Do bedroom eyes wear political glasses? The role of politics in human mate attraction. Evolution and Human Behavior, 33(2), 100–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kniffin, K. M., & Wilson, D. S. (2004). The effect of nonphysical traits on the perception of physical attractiveness: Three naturalistic studies. Evolution and Human Behavior, 25(2), 88–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langlois, J. H., Kalakanis, L., Rubenstein, A. J., Larson, A., Hallam, M., & Smoot, M. (2000). Maxims or myths of beauty? A meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 126(3), 390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levendusky, M. (2009). The partisan sort: How liberals became Democrats and conservatives became Republicans. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis-Beck, M. S., Jacoby, W. G., Norpoth, H., & Weisberg, H. F. (2008). The American voter revisited. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mason, L. (2015). “I Disrespectfully Agree”: The differential effects of partisan sorting on social and issue polarization. American Journal of Political Science, 59(1), 128–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mazzella, R., & Feingold, A. (1994). The effects of physical attractiveness, race, socioeconomic status, and gender of defendants and victims on judgments of mock jurors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24(15), 1315–1344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCarty, N., Poole, K. T., & Rosenthal, H. (2006). Polarized America: The dance of ideology and unequal riches. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, P. R., & Conover, P. J. (2015). Red and blue states of mind: Partisan hostility and voting in the United States. Political Research Quarterly, 68(2), 225–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson, S. P. (2011). Dominating Cues and the Limits of Elite Influence. Journal of Politics, 73(4), 1165–1177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson, S. P. (2012). Polarizing cues. American Journal of Political Science, 56(1), 52–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholson, S. P., & Segura, G. M. (2012). Who’s the party of the people? Economic populism and the U.S. public’s beliefs about political parties. Political Behavior, 34(2), 369–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rahn, W. (1993). The role of partisan stereotypes in information processing about political candidates. American Journal of Political Science, 37, 472–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, G., Simmons, L. W., & Peters, M. (2005). Attractiveness and sexual behavior: Does attractiveness enhance mating success? Evolution & Human Behavior, 26(2), 186–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rule, N. O., & Ambady, N. (2010). Democrats and Republicans can be differentiated from their faces. PLoS One, 5(1), 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samochoweic, J., Wänke, M., & Fiedler, K. (2010). Political ideology at face value. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1(3), 206–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Slothuus, R., & de Vreese, C. H. (2010). Political parties, motivated reasoning, and issue framing effects. Journal of Politics, 72(3), 630–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sniderman, P. M., & Stiglitz, E. H. (2012). The reputational premium. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swami, V., & Furnham, A. (2008). The psychology of physical attraction. New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taber, C. S., & Lodge, M. (2006). Motivated skepticism in the evaluation of political beliefs. American Journal of Political Science, 50(3), 755–769.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tajfel, H. (1970). Experiments in intergroup discrimination. Scientific American, 223(5), 96–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tajfel, H. (1982). Social psychology of intergroup relations. Annual Review of Psychology, 33(1), 1–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, J. M., & Levy, G. D. (1990). Effects of potential partners’ physical attractiveness and socioeconomic status on sexuality and partner selection. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 19(2), 149–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vavreck, L., & Rivers, D. (2008). The 2006 cooperative congressional election study. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 18(4), 355–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhong, C. B., Phillips, K. W., Leonardelli, G. J., & Galinsky, A. D. (2008). Negational categorization and intergroup behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 793–806.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Matt DeBell, Diane Felmlee, and Alex Theodoridis for helpful comments and suggestions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Political Science, University of California, Merced, Merced, USA

    Stephen P. Nicholson & Chelsea M. Coe

  2. Psychology, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, USA

    Jason Emory

  3. Psychological Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, USA

    Anna V. Song

Authors
  1. Stephen P. Nicholson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chelsea M. Coe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jason Emory
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Anna V. Song
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephen P. Nicholson.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 142 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nicholson, S.P., Coe, C.M., Emory, J. et al. The Politics of Beauty: The Effects of Partisan Bias on Physical Attractiveness. Polit Behav 38, 883–898 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-016-9339-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-016-9339-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation