Subjective Aspects of Beauty

Abstract

Many factors can influence a person's aesthetic judgments, including his or her emotional state, appeal to social status or financial interest, and educational, cultural, or economic background. These individual differences and preferences are generally consistent with evolutionary theory. Evolutionary theory has proved to be a powerful tool in exploring human facial attractiveness. The concept of beauty appears to be ingrained in our biology with evolutionarily relevant advantages for choosing individuals perceived as attractive. In this chapter, we will explore how human beauty can vary as a function of personality and context, fluctuate with the tastes of society and culture, and shift with the bias of historical periods or the mass media. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)