Physical Attractiveness of an Offender - Dissertation Example

? Identifying the Effects of the Attractiveness of an Offender’s Partner on Judgements of the Severity of a Crime and Corresponding Sentence Name University of East London Identifying the Effects of the Attractiveness of an Offender’s Partner on Judgements of the Severity of a Crime and Corresponding Sentence Introduction This is a study which is based on scientific and rationalistic research work on psychology. The topic area of study is physical attractiveness of an offender and/or his/her partner and related psychoanalytic perspective regarding the judiciary processes. The main processes in this framework are crime severity assessment and consequent sentencing. In this section, different aspects of human attractiveness and their socio-psychological effects will be discussed so that a proper direction to the qualitative aspects of the research can be provided. Introduction to Attractiveness: Attractiveness is a major topic area of research and analysis. The nature of the topic of human physical attractiveness is primarily relativistic and psycho-analytical. Criminological implications of the subject follow in the form of an important branch of continual study. There are several elements that decide a person’s attraction for another person; physical attractiveness is such an element. In several cases, people signify positive characteristics like honesty, intelligence and humbleness with respect to physical attractiveness, consciously or sub-consciously (Dion et al 1972). Stereotypes of beauty are frequently attributed to physical attractiveness which are further modified by emotions, sexual desire and gender. (Glassenberg et al 2010) In sum, physical attractiveness may lead the viewer/jury to evaluations that are inconsistent or unexplainable in the milieu of rationalistic, reasoned and informed decision making. Effects of physical attractiveness may emerge as important variables on various occasions when decision is influenced by the perception of the decision maker. A number of fields of scientific enquiry like criminology, management, law, ethics, and most crucially, psychology are affected by the property of physical attractiveness of an individual. This attractiveness may be attributed to face, body shape, behaviour, and personality of the person. In the context of attractiveness and job interviews, researchers have identified certain variables like perfect applicant stereotypes, job consciousness, visual cues, sexuality and attitudes. Thus Beehr and Gilmore (1982) suggest that the applicants’ physical attractiveness can influence interviewers’ decisions, particularly when interviewers assign favourable traits to attractive people. Further, Morrow (1990, p. 45) states, “Physical attractiveness is conceptualized as a beneficial status characteristic, although further investigation of the magnitude of the bias is needed.” Attractiveness is very important in decision making too. Manufacturers often invite attractive celebrity endorsers to promote their products. This practice can be regarded as an evidence of physical attractiveness being utilised to influence consumer decision making. Silvera and Austad (2004, p. 1509) have developed a model which “indicated that product attitudes were predicted by inferences about the endorser's liking for the product and by attitudes toward the endorser.” Moreover, meta-analytical studies on job related outcomes conducted by Hosoda et al (2003) show that attractiveness influences decision making at work and during recruitment. “In support of implicit personality theory, attractive individuals were found to fare better than unattractive individuals in terms of a number of such outcomes.” (Hosoda et al 2003, p. 431) Attractive people do better in life: Studies conducted by Silvera and Austad (2004) and Hosoda et al (2003) show that physical attractiveness can regulate market psychology. Consequently it may be assumed that attractive people do better in life since they can exploit the market to earn more. Lorenz (2005) of Cable News Network notes that according to a survey by the London Guildhall University, people who are considered as more attractive earn more than those who are considered as less attractive. Although the survey used self-reported data, the subjective importance of the study cannot be neglected. Attractiveness plays a key role in partner preference. Physical attractiveness is intricately related to sexuality; and hence partner preference. “It seems that body shape and the way people walk hold major cues to their attractiveness to others, according to collaborative research findings published by Texas A&M University professor Louis G. Tassinary and co-author Kerri Johnson of New York University.” (Texas A&M University 2003) Contextually, it can be further mentioned that a man generally likes a woman who is shorter than him; and a woman generally likes a man who is taller than her. This is just a common example. Cumulative effects of beauty stereotypes and sexism are important in relationship building (Glassenberg et al 2010). Personal experience: Physical attractiveness plays a major function in relationship building. One’s physical attractiveness may be important during interviews, group discussions and team work. An average does not have any extra-ordinary or exclusive looks. This helps him/her to get mixed with people. Although they don’t get any considerable advantage from others, they are never subjected to isolation by friends or family due to appearance. However, the main drawback for unattractive persons is that they are unable to draw attention. Effects of attractiveness: Juridical judgements and assessment of crime seriousness: Regarding personality and social psychology, Dion et al (1972 p. 285) have formulated a “beautiful is good” sort of physical attractiveness stereotype, which states that good looking people acquire more positive evaluation than their not-so-good-looking or ugly counterparts. Meta analytical studies conducted by Eagly et al (1991) and Feingold (1992) have shown that such effects do have statistical significance. McKelvie and Coley (1993) researched on 384 undergraduates in 12 experimental conditions. They were asked to read a crime description which included factors like defendant facial attractiveness, crime seriousness, cueing of attractiveness, etc. and then recommend on offender treatment. Finally, the researchers state that “the less attractive robber was more likely to be recommended psychiatric care than the more attractive one.” (McKelvie and Coley 1993, p. 265) However, they also state that “future research should employ faces that vary more in appearance and attractiveness” (McKelvie and Coley 1993, p. 275) In another experimentation conducted by Sigall and Ostrove (1975), it was shown that physical attractiveness of the criminal defendant led to distinct juridical judgements based on the nature of crime. In attractiveness unrelated crimes like robbery, harsher sentences were awarded to the relatively unattractive defendant. In attractiveness related crimes like swindling, harsher sentences were awarded to the relatively attractive defendant. The research seeks to establish “a cognitive explanation for the relationship between the physical attractiveness of defendants and the nature of the judgments made against them.” (Sigall and Ostrove 1975, p. 410) The implications can be extended to the general evaluation of the offender, and the perception of the jury cannot be considered as immune to the effects of the physical attractiveness of the individual under trial. This attractiveness may include facial attractiveness, body language, gender, overall manners and appearance. Mocan and Tekin (2010) seek to establish a cause-and-effect sort of relationship between crime and physical attractiveness of offender/partner. According to the research conducted by them the researchers state, “Being very attractive reduces the individual’s propensity for criminal activity, and being unattractive increases it for a number of crimes, ranging from burglary to selling drugs.” (Mocan and Tekin 2010, p. 29) If such kind of a factorial design is functional in the minds of the jury during sentencing, physical attractiveness parameters may emerge as significant variables in the context of legal decision making and related biasing patterns. Thus, depending on the nature of crime, a physically attractive offender and/or his/her partner may receive milder sentences in some cases and harsher sentences in others. Coherent Rationale and Aims The rationale of this research is a holistic analysis of the psychological perception and significance of physical attractiveness with regards to both criminal and juridical behaviour; keeping in mind the significance of attractiveness in relation to the different individuals from the various walks of life. The coherence of this rationale can be further defined by quoting from Sigall and Ostrove (1975, p. 410), “Research investigating the interpersonal consequences of physical attractiveness has demonstrated clearly that good-looking people have tremendous advantages over their unattractive counterparts in many ways.” Aims: The research aims at finding out the effects of the offender’s/partner’s physical attractiveness on the period of sentencing by the juridical decision maker. It also aims to analyse the effects of the offender’s/partner’s physical attractiveness on the rehabilitation programme recommended by the juridical decision maker and related crime severity and seriousness assessment. Qualitative characterization of both the criminal offender’s/partner’s and the juridical decision maker’s way of thinking with regards to physical attractiveness is important. Further, compliance with the ethical guidelines instituted by the National Health Service (NHS) in conducting scientific research in psychology is another goal. Research variables are to be designed in such a way that they help in fulfilling the aims of the research. “Relationships between variables are socially constructed and exist only within the social context which has generated them.” (Lemon and Taylor 1997, p. 229) For the purpose of this study, the main variables are: period of sentencing, frequency of incidences of psychiatric rehabilitation recommendations and degree of crime severity. These variables are to be correlated to the controlled variance of the attractiveness of the criminal offenders/their partners selected for the experiment. Hypothesis Statement: Identifying the effects of the attractiveness of an offender’s partner on judgements of the severity of a crime and corresponding sentencing, it can be predicted that the more attractive one is sentenced for the lesser period of time and this will not only include milder nature of overall trial, prosecution and rehabilitation, but also affect the general evaluation of the criminal offenders and their partners. References Beehr, T., & Gilmore, D. (1982). Applicant attractiveness as a perceived job-relevant variable in selection of management trainees. Academy of Management Journal, 25 , 607-617. Dion, K., Berscheid, E., & Walster, E. (1972). What is beautiful is good. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 24 , 285-290. Eagly, A., Ashmore, R., Makhijani, M., & Longo, L. (1991). What is beautiful is good, but... A meta-analytical review of research on the physical attractiveness stereotype. Psychological Bulletin, 110 , 109-128. Feingold, A. (1992). Good-looking people are not what we think. Psychological Bulletin, 111 , 304-341. Glassenberg, A., Feinberg, D., Jones, B., Little, A., & Debruine, L. (2010). Sex-dimorphic face shape preference in heterosexual and homosexual men and women. Archives of Sexual Behaviour, 39 , 1289-1296. Hosoda, M., Stone-Romero, E., & Goats, G. (2003). The effects of physical attractiveness on job-related outcomes: A meta-analysis of experimental studies. Personnel Psychology, 56 , 431-462. Lemon, N., & Taylor, J. (1997). Caring in casuality. In N. (. Heyes, Doing Qualitative Analysis in Psychology (pp. 226-243). Hove, East Sussex: Psychology Press. Lorenz, K. (2005, July 8). Do pretty people earn more? Research, reality can be at odds over the ugly truth. CNN.com. Retrieved December 27, 2011, from http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/Careers/07/08/looks McKelvie, S., & Coley, J. (1993). Effects of crime seriousness and offender facial attractiveness on recommended treatment. Social Behaviour and Personality, 21 , 265-277. Mocan, N., & Tekim, E. (2010). Ugly criminals. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 92 , 15-30. Morrow, P. (1990). Physical attractiveness and selection decision making. Journal of Management, 16 , 45-60. Sigall, H., & Ostrove, N. (1975). Beautiful but dangerous: Effects of offender attractiveness and nature of the crime on juridic judgement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31 , 410-414. Silvera, D., & Austad, B. (2004). Factors predicting the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement advertisements. European Journal of Marketing, 38 , 1509-1526. Texas A&M University (2007, May 23). Clues To Mysteries Of Physical Attractiveness Revealed. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 24, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2007/05/070523105948.htm Read More