Psychology News
A team of researchers at the University of Missouri, the US, explored how self-perceptions of physical attractiveness influence the desire to lead meaningful lives. The study is published in the Journal of Positive Psychology.
The Study
The researchers recruited 598 individuals using the Amazon Mechanical Turk crowdsourcing platform. The participants rated their physical attractiveness, meaning in life, and hedonic well-being.
The Findings
The results revealed that self-rated levels of physical attractiveness dictate how a person means to lead a meaningful life. According to positive psychology, if you believe yourself to be attractive, you develop a sense of purpose or meaningfulness about life, as attractiveness is considered a critical component in happiness and feelings of well-being.
As the study puts it, “It is good to be physically attractive, but life becomes even more meaningful when one feels attractive!”
The researchers elaborated: “This is the first set of studies that we are aware of to demonstrate [why an attractive life is meaningful]. We believe that there are major implications for our understanding of the ‘what is beautiful is good’ stereotype and the presumed distinction between eudaimonic and hedonic well-being.”
To Know More You May Refer To
Sanders, C. A., Jenkins, A. T., & King, L. A. (2022). Pretty, meaningful lives: Physical attractiveness and experienced and perceived meaning in life. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2022.2155222