Gender, BMI, and Personality as Predictors of Self-Assessed Attractiveness and Intelligence

Abstract

Over 2000 students completed three short questionnaires in which they rated their general and multiple intelligence, their attractiveness and personality using a shortened measure of the Big Five. They also provided information about their weight, height, religious and political beliefs. A series of regression was performed with self-rated intelligence and attractiveness as the criterion variable. Females scored higher on Neuroticism and Agreeableness and lower on Openness, Self-estimated IQ and attractiveness. Regressions for self-estimated IQ and Attractiveness showed a similar pattern: Conscientious, Disagreeable, Extraverted, Lower BMI males gave higher scores. Regressions for the different “multiple intelligences” showed that four (Logical, Spatial, Interpersonal, Spiritual) of the nine predictor variables accounted for 10 or more percent of the variance. For the “Academic intelligences” results showed that Conscientious, Open, Extraverted males gave higher scores. Implications and limitations are considered.