Physical and Interpersonal Attractiveness of the Model and Imitation in Adults.

The effects of physical attractiveness, warmth, and sex of an adult model on imitation behavior of adult males and females were investigated. Subjects were randomly paired with confederates of low or high facial attractiveness who interacted with the subject in a cold-unfriendly or warm-friendly manner. The imitation task involved the confederate lighting a specified colored light on the subject's panel in response to a noun. The subject then indicated his color choice on the confederate's panel. The summed score for 20 trials of match or mismatch was used as the measure of imitation. Results indicated that physical attractiveness influences imitation when combined with other variables, but when compared with a salient, interpersonal attraction variable such as warmth, the effects of physical attractiveness are greatly reduced. The data suggests that the effects of physical attractiveness may be substantially altered when subjects have an opportunity to interact with persons of differential attractiveness; thus, one needs to exercise caution in making inferences from the literature on physical attractiveness. (Author/PC)