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The effect of first names on perceptions of female attractiveness

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Abstract

The effect of a female's first name on subsequent judgments of her attractiveness was investigated via a Latin square design. The results indicated that the impact of a desirable or undesirable first name on attractiveness is minimal—less than 1% of the explained variance. These results appear to be a consistent extension of earlier findings on the impact of first names.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication Studies, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 24061, Blacksburg, Virginia

    Wayne E. Hensley & Barbara A. Spencer

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  1. Wayne E. Hensley
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  2. Barbara A. Spencer
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Additional information

An earlier version of this article was competitively selected to be presented at the fifth annual Communication, Language, and Gender Conference, Athens, Ohio, October 15–16, 1982. The authors are indebted to Lee Ann Bryan, Paul Cox, Karen Farnsworth, Karen Lemon, and Kelly Sisson for assistance in data gathering.

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Hensley, W.E., Spencer, B.A. The effect of first names on perceptions of female attractiveness. Sex Roles 12, 723–729 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287866

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