Reconstructing Social Identity Through Physical Attractiveness

Abstract

Attractiveness is an attribute of an individual’s interest and desire for someone or something that outlines affiliative behaviors in human interaction. Physical attractiveness is the aesthetic perception of the physical traits of a human-based on individuals’ subjective preferences and/or cultural and social differences. It has a significant contribution to how people are judged in sexual attractiveness, physical attractiveness, physique, social opportunities, relationships, and more. In a previous study, we discovered that physical appearance was a significant factor of happiness for young adults, as they desire flawless images of themselves in social media [1]. The psychological driving forces of improving physical attractiveness are mainly two-fold – 1) it comes from one’s eagerness to satisfy the needs of beauty and shape themselves as “the ideal one in mind”, and 2) it comes from the pressure of the external, such as public opinion, employment and so on. The aim of this present research is to address the relationship between social identity and physical attractiveness trends based on Eastern and Western cultural differences. Social media was used as a measure of social identity because it is a primary interaction tool for current young adults. The research displays significant differences between Eastern and Western cultures in terms of preferences for cosmetic interventions. Comparisons from two Instagram hashtags, #beautiful and #happiness, indicated significant bias of social media images that represent the preferences of cosmetic interventions by culture.