The “Beauty Myth” is no Myth

Abstract

The study described in this chapter follows up on two of the more dramatic findings from the previously described study: (1) the finding that across regions there are far fewer main female characters, and (2) that sharply more emphasis is placed upon their physical attractiveness. The follow-up study sought to determine if similar patterns would emerge in a content analysis of a different folktale sample using new coders and coding protocol. Moreover, this research, along with the study of romantic love presented in the next chapter, was designed to shore up some of the earlier study’s specific methodological limitations. Looking back on this work with the benefit of hindsight, there are at least two main things (along with several smaller things) that should have been done differently. First, a different method of intercoder reliability testing should have been used. For instance, assigning overlapping samples of folktales, so that perhaps 10–15 percent of the entire sample would have been coded by all participants, would have provided a more confident indicator of the reliability of the findings as a whole. Second, we should have focused on a smaller number of distinct culture areas—but in more depth. Establishing a sampling pool with closer shores and deeper depths would have mitigated the problem of cultural “lumping.”

This research was originally published in the journal Human Nature 19 (2008). Kacey Anderson, Chad Burbank, Jasper Burch, Chelsea Byrnes, Christine Callanan, Nicole Casamento, Amy Gardiner, Natalie Gladd, Allison Hartnett, Elisabeth Henry, Eloise Hilarides, Chelsea Lemke, Kristen Manganini, Sara Merrihew, Tonya Milan-Robinson, Patrick O’Connell, Jessica Mott, Kimberly Parker, Karlin Revoir, Nathan Riley, Darcie Robinson, Sheila Rodriguez, Chelsea Sauve, April Spearance, Valerie Stucker, Adam Tapply, Alexa Unser, Christopher Wall, Alexis Webb, and Melinda Zocco contributed to this research.