Universität zu Köln

Kedia, Gayannee ORCID: 0000-0003-0163-0867, Mussweiler, Thomas, Mullins, Paul ORCID: 0000-0002-1339-6361 and Linden, David E. J. (2014). The neural correlates of beauty comparison. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci., 9 (5). S. 681 - 689. OXFORD: OXFORD UNIV PRESS. ISSN 1749-5024

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Abstract

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. How attractive someone is perceived to be depends on the individual or cultural standards to which this person is compared. But although comparisons play a central role in the way people judge the appearance of others, the brain processes underlying attractiveness comparisons remain unknown. In the present experiment, we tested the hypothesis that attractiveness comparisons rely on the same cognitive and neural mechanisms as comparisons of simple nonsocial magnitudes such as size. We recorded brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while participants compared the beauty or height of two women or two dogs. Our data support the hypothesis of a common process underlying these different types of comparisons. First, we demonstrate that the distance effect characteristic of nonsocial comparisons also holds for attractiveness comparisons. Behavioral results indicated, for all our comparisons, longer response times for near than far distances. Second, the neural correlates of these distance effects overlapped in a frontoparietal network known for its involvement in processing simple nonsocial quantities. These results provide evidence for overlapping processes in the comparison of physical attractiveness and nonsocial magnitudes.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Kedia, Gayannee UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-0163-0867 UNSPECIFIED Mussweiler, Thomas UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Mullins, Paul UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-1339-6361 UNSPECIFIED Linden, David E. J. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-440302
DOI:	10.1093/scan/nst026
Journal or Publication Title:	Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci.
Volume:	9
Number:	5
Page Range:	S. 681 - 689
Date:	2014
Publisher:	OXFORD UNIV PRESS
Place of Publication:	OXFORD
ISSN:	1749-5024
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS; FACE PERCEPTION; NUMBER; BRAIN; ACTIVATION; JUDGMENTS; SEX; REPRESENTATIONS; SIGNALS; SYSTEMS Multiple languages Neurosciences; Psychology; Psychology, Experimental Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/44030