ABSTRACT
Physical correlates of attractiveness have been categorized as static and fluctuating features. Hypotheses of the study relating attractiveness to specific physical features were derived from factor-analytic findings. The hypotheses were as follows: For both men and women, physical attractiveness correlates positively with shapeliness of physique, overall grooming, more formal clothing, more positive and/or less negative facial expressions, less obesity, and flatness versus protrusion of abdomen. The distinction between static physical characteristics versus behaviors as determinants of attractiveness requires emphasis and has important implications regarding limited generality of the findings. To explore the role of emotions in physical attraction, emotional reactions of raters were treated as mediating the relation between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The findings showed that, for adults, variations in facial and bodily characteristics failed to produce babyish facial features as a basic factor of physical appearance.
