Makeup usage in women as a tactic to attract mates and compete with rivals

Autor(es)

Mafra, Anthonieta Looman ^[1] ; Correa Varella, Marco Antonio ^[1] ; Defelipe, Renata Pereira ^[1] ; Anchieta, Natalia Machado ^[1] ; Grecco de Almeida, Caroline Aparecida ^[1] ; Valentova, Jaroslava Varella ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Expt Psychol, Ave Prof Mello de Morais 1721, BR-05508030 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: PERSONALITY AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES; v. 163, SEP 1 2020.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

Appearance alterations are an important part of human history, culture, and evolution that can serve many functions. Cross-culturally, women more than men use makeup as a specific, temporary, personalized, and relatively accessible technique for appearance alteration. Women wear makeup to attract attention and/or to mask their imperfections, and indeed, made-up women are on average perceived as more attractive, healthy, promiscuous, and as having higher prestige. Makeup use can thus be related not only to potential partner attraction but also to a rival competition. We aimed to test whether makeup usage in women is predicted by evolutionary relevant factors such as self-reported mate value or intrasexual competition. In total, 1344 Brazilian women responded online about frequency of makeup usage, money spent on makeup per month, and time spent applying makeup per day. They further reported their mate value, intrasexual competition, age, relationship status, reproductive status, sociosexuality, and income. Exploratory correlations and the final regression models indicate that age, intrasexual competition, and mate value positively predict makeup usage. Thus, makeup usage may have a dual evolutionary utility, serving as a behavioral tactic of both intersexual attraction -including alteration of age perception- and intrasexual competition. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 18/16370-5 - Efeito da maquiagem nas percepções e comportamentos de usuárias e terceiros
• Beneficiário: Anthonieta Looman Mafra
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado