An Evolutionary Perspective on Appearance Enhancement Behavior
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An Evolutionary Perspective on Appearance Enhancement Behavior Adam C. Davis1 · Steven Arnocky2 Received: 6 August 2019 / Revised: 12 May 2020 / Accepted: 15 May 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Researchers have highlighted numerous sociocultural factors that have been shown to underpin human appearance enhancement practices, including the influence of peers, family, the media, and sexual objectification. Fewer scholars have approached appearance enhancement from an evolutionary perspective or considered how sociocultural factors interact with evolved psychology to produce appearance enhancement behavior. Following others, we argue that evidence from the field of evolutionary psychology can complement existing sociocultural models by yielding unique insight into the historical and cross-cultural ubiquity of competition over aspects of physical appearance to embody what is desired by potential mates. An evolutionary lens can help to make sense of reliable sex and individual differences that impact appearance enhancement, as well as the context-dependent nature of putative adaptations that function to increase physical attractiveness. In the current review, appearance enhancement is described as a self-promotion strategy used to enhance reproductive success by rendering oneself more attractive than rivals to mates, thereby increasing one’s mate value. The varied ways in which humans enhance their appearance are described, as well as the divergent tactics used by women and men to augment their appearance, which correspond to the preferences of opposite-sex mates in a heterosexual context. Evolutionarily relevant individual differences and contextual factors that vary predictably with appearance enhancement behavior are also discussed. The complementarity of sociocultural and evolutionary perspectives is emphasized and recommended avenues for future interdisciplinary research are provided for scholars interested in studying appearance enhancement behavior. Keywords Physical attractiveness · Self-promotion · Appearance enhancement behavior · Mating effort · Evolutionary psychology
Introduction Body dissatisfaction, denoting negative thoughts surrounding one’s physical appearance, pervades contemporary society (Bakhshi, 2011; Cash, Morrow, Hrabosky, & Perry, 2004; Fiske, Fallon, Blissmer, & Redding, 2014; Harris & Carr, 2001). This is troubling given that appearance concerns increase the risk for mental and physical health problems, particularly among adolescent girls and young adult women who are, on average, more dissatisfied than boys and men with their appearance (Lee & Vaillancourt, 2018; Morin, Maïano, Scalas, Janosz, & Litalien, 2017; see also Vaillancourt, 2013). Researchers have * Steven Arnocky [email protected] 1
Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Department of Psychology, Nipissing University, North Bay, ON P1B 8L7, Canada
2
highlighted many important sociocultural factors that influence appearance
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