The what-is-beautiful-is-good effect. According to the beautiful-is-good hypothesis, participants perceive attractive targets as having more desirable interpersonal traits and being more motivated to form social bonds relative to unat- tractive targets.

This attractive- ness halo effect reflects a physical-attractiveness stereotype, according to which attractive individuals are expected to be more sociable, friendly, warm, competent, and intelligent than less attractive individuals (for reviews, see Feingold, 1992; Langlois et al., 2000).

Faces that we deem attractive tend to be symmetrical, they find. Attractive faces also are average. In a symmetrical face, the left and right sides look like each other. They’re not perfect mirror images.

Seven out of 10 Americans interviewed in a recent Gallup poll say that physical attractiveness is important in society today “in terms of … happiness, social life, and the ability to get ahead,” including 35% who say that it is very important, and 41% who say it is fairly important.

Most research shows that good looks are beneficial for men and women at work. For example, research often shows that attractive individuals earn more money than less attractive individuals – about 20 per cent more!

For both genders, smooth skin, facial symmetry and shiny hair are the most praised features. Beautiful people are perceived as being healthier, wealthier, more socially dominant and more trustworthy. According to a study developed by the University of New Mexico, beauty and symmetry are related to intelligence.

A large body of studies have found that facial attributes that contribute to attractiveness include averageness6,7,8,9, symmetry9,10, sexual dimorphism11,12, expression13, and skin texture14. Among these factors, averageness and symmetry were found to be important criteria.

Characteristic features of the female “sexy face” in comparison to the “unsexy face”:

• Suntanned skin.
• Narrower facial shape.
• Less fat.
• Fuller lips.
• Slightly bigger distance of eyes.
• Darker, narrower eye brows.
• More, longer and darker lashes.
• Higher cheek bones.

Scientists have found that evolution is driving women to become more attractive, while men are not likely to advance in the looks department at all. A study, led by Markus Jokela from the University of Helsinki, found beautiful women had up to 16 per cent more children than their plainer counterparts.

Previous studies provided evidence that attractiveness is genetically heritable, but no specific genetic variant has been identified for attractiveness”, says Qiongshi Lu, Assistant Professor at UW and principal investigator of the study.

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Human infants, just a few days of age, are known to prefer attractive human faces. We examined whether this preference is human-specific. Three- to 4-month-olds preferred attractive over unattractive domestic and wild cat (tiger) faces (Experiments 1 and 3).

Despite their poor focus, she says that babies can visually attend to things like ceiling fans better due to the movement and contrast. So if your baby is staring at the ceiling fan, it’s a completely normal part of their visual capabilities and development.

According to researchers at Yale University’s Infant Cognition Center, also known as “The Baby Lab,” babies can actually tell good from evil, even as young as 3 months old.

A study done by a group of university professors showed that babies often stare at people because they think they are attractive. So if you catch a baby staring at you, it just may be because s/he thinks there’s something special about the way you look.

Infant torticollis happens when the muscles that connect the breastbone and collarbone to the skull (sternocleidomastoid muscle) are shortened. Because your baby’s neck muscle is shortened on one side of the neck, it pulls their head into a tilt or rotation, and often both.

Just as humans stare into the eyes of someone they adore, dogs will stare at their owners to express affection. In fact, mutual staring between humans and dogs releases oxytocin, known as the love hormone. This chemical plays an important role in bonding and boosts feelings of love and trust.

Babies like sucking on pacifiers because it reminds them of being in the womb. In fact, sucking is one of 5 womb sensations (known as the 5 S’s) capable of triggering a baby’s innate calming reflex.

Pacifiers are safe for your newborn. When you give them one depends on you and your baby. You might prefer to have them practically come out of the womb with a pacifier and do just fine. Or it may be better to wait a few weeks, if they’re having trouble latching onto your breast.

A new system that involves the five S’s — swaddling, side/stomach positioning in the parents’ arms, shushing, swinging, and sucking — can calm most crying infants, Dr. Karp said. This activates the baby’s calming reflex during the first three to four months of life by mimicking experiences in the uterus.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents consider offering pacifiers to infants one month and older at the onset of sleep to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.

Stopping pacifier use before 2 to 4 years is usually suggested. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), agrees non-nutritive sucking is normal for babies and young children and recommend weaning from the pacifier by age 3.

Consider the drawbacks:

• Your baby might become dependent on the pacifier.
• Pacifier use might increase the risk of middle ear infections.
• Prolonged pacifier use might lead to dental problems.
• Pacifier use might disrupt breast-feeding.

TIPS ON GETTING YOUR CHILD TO STOP USING A PACIFIER Limit the time you allow your child to use a pacifier. Use it only for sleep time and comfort until about 12 months old and then plan to give it up. Never use punishment or humiliation to force your child to give up using a pacifier.

This is explained by the physical attractiveness (PA) stereotype, also called the “what is beautiful is good” stereotype or the perception that physically attractive individuals possess more positive qualities and experience more satisfying life outcomes than do less attractive individuals (Dion et al. 1972).

The halo effect is also something referred to as the “physical attractiveness stereotype” and the “what is beautiful is also good” principle. Physical appearance is often a major part of the halo effect. The halo effect makes it so that perceptions of one quality lead to biased judgments of other qualities.

According to the beautiful-is-good hypothesis, participants perceive attractive targets as having more desirable interpersonal traits and being more motivated to form social bonds relative to unat- tractive targets.

What an individual desires in partner reflects what they consider “good”, and they find faces reflecting these desired traits as attractive – “what is good is beautiful”. Possessing personality traits that are attractive may be causal in making a face attractive.

Physical attractiveness and accuracy in first impressions of personality. Psychol Sci. 2010 Dec;21(12):1777-82.

The claim that “what is beautiful is good,” also known as the physical attractiveness stereotype, originated from a study by Dion et al. (1972). In this study, participants received photographic stimuli of previously rated attractive, average, and unattractive target individuals.

The matching effect is the empirical finding that roman- tic couples have a high correlation in physical attractive- ness. It remains a debate as to whether this correlation is based purely on similarity preference – the matching hypothesis – or marketplace forces.

In one study, scientists found that first impressions are generally influenced most by nonverbal communication and body language. They found that clothing, hairstyles, accessories, and other aspects of a person’s outward appearance have a seemingly smaller influence on first impressions.

How to Create a Good First Impression

• Be on Time. Someone you are meeting for the first time will not be interested in your “good excuse” for running late.
• Present Yourself Appropriately.
• Be Yourself.
• Have a Winning Smile!
• Be Open and Confident.
• Use Small Talk.
• Be Positive.
• Be Courteous and Attentive.

In psychology, a first impression is the event when one person first encounters another person and forms a mental image of that person. Impression accuracy varies depending on the observer and the target (person, object, scene, etc.)

seven seconds

A Harvard study revealed that it typically takes eight subsequent positive encounters to change another person’s negative opinion of you. So be persistent and play the long game.

It takes only 1/10th of a second to form a first impression about a person. Websites are no different. It takes about 50 milliseconds (ms) (that’s 0.05 seconds) for users to form an opinion about your website that determines whether they’ll stay or leave. This number comes from specific studies.

Here are seven nonverbal ways to make a positive first impression:

• Adjust your attitude. People pick up your attitude instantly.
• Straighten your posture. Status and power are nonverbally conveyed by height and space.
• Smile.
• Make eye contact.
• Raise your eyebrows.
• Shake hands.
• Lean in slightly.

These tips can help you to adjust your body language so that you make a great first impression :

1. Have an open posture. Be relaxed, but don’t slouch!
2. Use a firm handshake. But don’t get carried away!
3. Maintain good eye contact. Try to hold the other person’s gaze for a few seconds at a time.
4. Avoid touching your face.

Apply these tips to make a favorable first impression.

1. Focus on the person. Make and maintain appropriate eye contact.
2. Monitor your vocal quality.
3. Match your words with your body language.
4. Pay attention to your posture.
5. Avoid commando postures.
6. Watch your movements.
7. Smile.
8. Relax.

93 percent

The rule states that 7 percent of meaning is communicated through spoken word, 38 percent through tone of voice, and 55 percent through body language. It was developed by psychology professor Albert Mehrabian at the University of California, Los Angeles, who laid out the concept in his 1971 book Silent Messages (1971).

Nonverbal communication can be categorized into eight types: space, time, physical characteristics, body movements, touch, paralanguage, artifacts, and environment.

Nonverbal communication