Individual Differences in Everyday Helping Situations: Attractiveness, Cost, and Gender

Physical attractiveness has been examined in numerous contexts such as dating prospects (Berschield & Walster, 1974), employment interviews and income (Cash 1981), and peer acceptance and attitudes (Hatfield & Sprecher, 1986). However, most of the research has been centered on how people rate character traits of attractive and unattractive individuals. There has been less research focused on the effects of physical attractiveness on likelihood of receiving help. We were interested to see if the cost to the helper would interact with the attractiveness of the receiver to influence self- reported likelihood of helping. All scenarios were hypothetical, thus we cannot be certain that the participants would have actually performed the helping behavior; however, each scenario was a realistic situation that college students might experience. Another factor that was studied was gender to see if men report greater likelihoods of helping than women or vice versa. There are many stereotypes that revolve around attractiveness. For instance, research has shown that individuals who are more attractive are preferred over equally qualified individuals who are less attractive in hiring decisions (Dipboye, Arvey, & Terpstra, 1977; Dipboye, Fromkin, & Wiback, 1975; Raza & Carpenter, 1987). Langlois et al. (2000) found that both attractive children and adults are judged and treated more positively than unattractive children and adults, even when they are familiar to the perceiver. Sturmer et al. (2005) found that people were more likely to help attractive individuals regardless of in- group or outgroup membership. Freeman (1985) also found that those who have more attractive facial features are more likely to be liked, and to have more likable personality traits attributed to them than an unattractive individual. Western people are more likely to believe and listen to individuals who are considered to be aesthetically attractive (Dion et al., 1972; Miller, 1970). Even less individualistic societies in the East assume that attractive people more often exhibit qualities valued in their culture, such as concern for others, loyalty, and integrity (Dion et al., 1972). Individuals who are perceived to be more attractive are also more likely to take part in social interactions, accept assistance from those around them, and have better work-related success than an unattractive individual (Anderson, et. al, 2008). Therefore, it would make sense that attractive individuals are more likely to be helped; they are not only viewed as being more approachable but also are attributed with valuable traits. The cost of helping also influences an individual's likelihood to help (Dovidio, 1982; Bell et al., 2001). For instance, Dovidio (1982) found that helping behavior was less likely as scenario cost increased when it came to lending money to a stranger even when the difference was only 20 cents. Rubaltelli (2012) found that people are more inclined to donate to a charitable cause when the personal cost is low and easily fulfills any moral obligation felt by the donor. Bell et al. (2001) found that students were more likely to lend notes to someone they saw frequently than to someone with whom they were not acquainted, suggesting that familiarity may lower the cost of helping in a scenario. Bell et al. (2001) found that the comfort level of the helper is influenced by the familiarity of the receiver/asker. If someone is more comfortable with a person, it fosters a more approachable environment and the helping situation is easier to approach or complete, making the cost to the helper lower (Hansen, 2006). If the individual is less familiar with the person who needs help, then the helper may be less likely to help because the environment is not as comfortable as it would be with a more familiar person (Hansen, 2006). There are gender differences in helping behavior. Salminen and Glad (2001) found men were more likely to help individuals than were women, especially when it came to helping the opposite gender. …