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Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication Page -- Contents -- Copyright Notes -- Preface to the Second Edition -- 1 Cupid's arrow. Or, a brief history of attraction theories, why we need a science of relationship formation, and what this book is all about -- 2 Getting up close and personal. Or, why geography matters, how the Internet is (and isn't) changing how we form relationships, and a beauty-map of London -- 3 Appearance matters. Or, how we judge books by their covers, how men aren't from Mars and women aren't from Venus, and why what is beautiful is good -- 4 Appearance matters, part II. Or, how other things matter too, why nice guys don't always finish last, and how love is sometimes blind -- 5 Liking those who like us. Or, how I like you because you like me, thirty-six questions that may (or may not) change your life, and why playing hard-to-get is ... hard -- 6 Birds of a feather. Or, why we like people who are similar to ourselves, how we match on attitudes (and other traits), and why opposites sometimes attract -- 7 The end of the beginning. Or, why life outside the lab makes fools of all of us and, to conclude, some life-changing advice -- Notes -- References -- Index.

This book begins the task of providing a scientific look at physical attraction by presenting an overview of scholarly work on physical beauty, culture, evolution, and other aspects of human attractiveness. It begins by discussing the role of evolution in the development of what it means to be "attractive" in contemporary society. It provides a general overview of evolutionary psychology and mate choice, as well as an in-depth focus on physical characteristics such as physical symmetry, body weight, and ratios, and youthfulness. It goes on to explore the role of societal and cultural ideals of beauty through a discussion of the social psychology of human beauty. Finally, the "morality" of physical attractiveness is examined, looking at issues such as discrimination on the basis of looks, body image and eating disorders, and cosmetic surgery

As many Asian nations rapidly urbanise, governments and policy-makers are having to deal with the negative impacts of urbanisation on population mental health. One cost-effective way of promoting population psychological well-being is through nature experiences, or exposure to natural environments. Studies consistently show that nature experiences are associated with benefits for mental health. Here, I show that exposure to natural environments is also associated with more positive body image, beyond benefits to mental health more generally. I review the evidence from cross-sectional, prospective, and experimental fieldwork showing that spending time in natural environments is associated with healthier body image, while acknowledging that much of this work has been conducted in the Global North. Such findings highlight the importance of ensuring that all citizens have easy access to natural environments, particularly in increasingly urbanised Asian nations where town planning and greenspace requirements are often at odds. There is now an urgent need for authorities to protect ecological assets, such as remnant forest patches, as well the provision of, and access to, natural environments.

Given that an important component of perceptual body dissatisfaction is the discrepancy between ideal and current body sizes, understanding how body size ideals are shaped and transmitted remains an important task for scholars. This review begins by examining cross-cultural patterns of body size ideals. Evidence is presented to indicate that the largest differences in body size ideals are no longer found between Western and non-Western cultures, but between sites differing in socioeconomic status. It is further argued that a thin ideal is now prevalent in most socioeconomically developed, urban sites. In explanation, it has been suggested that both Westernization and modernization bring cultural changes that promote a thin ideal. The present article reviews evidence in favor of both factors and concludes by looking at clinical implications for understanding corporeal experiences in a globalized world.

AbstractAs practitioners of a putative science of the mind, evolutionary psychologists have earned a degree of cachet with their provocative and sometimes controversial pronouncements about human nature and behaviour. In this article, I briefly survey the history of an evolutionary approach to the psychological sciences before considering the core assumptions of the field that has come to be known as 'evolutionary psychology'. By examining one particular example of evolutionary psychological research – on interpersonal attraction – I find this 'new science of the mind' to be lacking. Rather, I propose that developmental systems theory, buffered by a reconsideration of the dialectical sciences, offers a more comprehensive and rigorous approach to psychology. I further propose that historical materialists and those on the Left generally should take a keen interest in these issues as they have a bearing on social and political outcomes.

In this volume, contributors from a range of perspectives - evolutionary psychology to anthropology, sociology to cognitive and motivational psychology - explore questions of what our attractiveness preferences are and why we find certain others physically attractive, offering a fresh perspective to understanding the perception of attractiveness

Faced with the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, many nations have mandated sets of requirements, such as social-distancing measures. However, compliance with such measures is likely to be shaped by a range of factors. Here, we proposed and tested a mediation model in which rejection of COVID-19 conspiracy theories and/or theorists mediates the relationship between rational thinking style and compliance with mandated requirements. An online, nationally representative sample of the adult population in the United Kingdom (N = 520) completed a previously-validated measure of rational thinking style, as well as novel measures of rejection of COVID-19 conspiracy theories/theorists and compliance with mandated requirements. Inter-correlations between scores on all three measures were significant and positive. Mediation analysis indicated that rational thinking style and rejection of COVID-19 conspiracy theories/theorists, respectively, were directly associated with compliance, and that the mediated association was also significant. These results may have implications for practical policy aimed at promoting greater compliance with mandated requirements, including social distancing.

We examined whether or not different behavioral expressions of dominance by a male affected how introverted and extraverted women rated his sexual attractiveness. We assessed 81 women on the extraversion scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire–Revised Short Scale (Eysenck
& Eysenck, 1991), and they then watched a 1-minute silent video of a male confederate in 3 dominance conditions (closed body posture [low], open body posture [medium], and open body posture with gesticulation [high]) and rated the male for sexual attractiveness. Results showed that higher
dominance behavior significantly increased the confederate's attractiveness, accounting for 10% of the variance in attractiveness ratings. However, the women's personalities appeared to have no significant effect on these ratings. These results are discussed in relation to extant literature
on the phenomenon that women do not select "nice guys" in preference to other men.

This study looked at the contribution of breast size and buttock size on ratings of female physical attractiveness in profile. A total of 114 British undergraduates rated 9 silhouettes with 3 varying levels of breast size and 3 levels of buttock size. Results showed significant main effects of breast size (with an overall preference for small breasts) but not of buttock size. Gender of the participants did not have a significant effect on the variables, although there was a significant interaction of breast and buttock size. The findings suggest that variables such as breast size are minor cues of female physical attractiveness.

Findings in recent studies indicate that, contrary to popular fashion advice, horizontal lines do not give the impression of larger body size (Thompson, 2008; Thompson & Mikellidou, 2009, 2011). However, in these studies stimuli were presented concurrently with vertical and horizontal
lines, and it is unclear whether the same effect is found in the absence of such perceptual anchors. In this study, 120 naive participants interacted with a female confederate wearing a dress with vertical stripes, horizontal stripes, or no stripes. Following this, they were asked to rate
the confederate's body size. Results showed that the confederate was rated as having a significantly larger body size when she was dressed in horizontal stripes than when she was wearing either vertical stripes or no stripes. There was no significant difference in body size perceptions when
she was wearing vertical stripes or no stripes. The practical implications of these results are discussed.

Several self-report measures of conspiracist beliefs have been developed in Western populations, but examination of their psychometric properties outside Europe and North America is limited. This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of three widely-used measures of conspiracist beliefs in Iran. We translated the Belief in Conspiracy Theory Inventory (BCTI), Conspiracy Mentality Questionnaire (CMQ), and Generic Conspiracist Belief Scale (GCBS) into Persian. Factorial validity was examined using principal-axis factor analysis in a community sample from Tehran, Iran (N = 544). Further, the relationships between scores on these measures and hypothesized antecedents (i.e., education, schizotypal personality, information processing style, superstitious beliefs, religiosity, and political orientation) were examined. Overall, we failed to find support for the parent factor structures of two of the three scales (BCTI and GCBS) and evidence of construct validity for all three scales was limited. These results highlight the necessity of further psychometric work on existing measures of conspiracy theories in diverse culturo-linguistic groups and the development of context-specific measures of conspiracist beliefs.

Background: Previous studies examining body image from a cross-cultural perspective have tended to neglect samples from different ethnic groups or along a rural–urban continuum. To overcome this limitation, the present study examined positive body image among rural and urban women from three major indigenous ethnic groups in Sabah, Malaysia. Method: A total of 202 women completed the Body Appreciation Scale, as well as measures of media exposure and financial security, and provided their demographic details. Results: Results showed that there were significant rural–urban differences in body appreciation, with rural participants having significantly higher body appreciation than urban participants. A comparison with a previous data set of West Malaysian women (Swami & Chamorro-Premuzic, 2008) showed that the current urban sample had significantly lower body appreciation and that the rural group had significantly higher body appreciation. Further results showed that research site (urban vs rural) explained 11.0% of the variance in body appreciation. Participant body mass index and exposure to western forms of media explained an additional 2.0% of the variance. Conclusion: These results suggest that there are differences in body image between rural and urban women. Results are discussed in relation to the promotion of positive body image, particularly in developing societies where health care resources may be limited.