STEREOTYPES ABOUT PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS BASED ON SOCIAL AND PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE INFORMATION

The assumed connection between social and professional competence and physical and social personal qualities were examined by having American undergraduate students make attributions about a target described in a fictitious case study. Information about the target's social and professional success was varied to create high and low levels of each; both target and subject sex were also varied. Subjets estimated the height and weight of the target and rated physical attractiveness, interpersonal attraction, and intelligence. The results indicate a perceived relationship between competence and both physical and social characteristics. Competent individuals were considered to be taller, more physically attractive, and more socially attractive. Professional competence led to predictions of greater intelligence. Except for the expected overall height and weight advantage for men, target sex yielded a single reliable effect. In estimating weights, target sex interacted with social competence. High social competence led to lower estimated weights for women but higher weights for men. The results suggest that American students have some clear expectations involving social and physical attributes. © 1991 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.