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→IQ and physical attractiveness
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Furthermore, in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, there was a weak positive correlation between attractiveness rated in yearbook photos and measured IQ.<ref>seb on X: "Intelligence and ratings of attractiveness from high school yearbook photos correlate weakly, but positively within Whites. https://t.co/iRl6vByRfu" / X (archive.is)</ref> | Furthermore, in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, there was a weak positive correlation between attractiveness rated in yearbook photos and measured IQ.<ref>seb on X: "Intelligence and ratings of attractiveness from high school yearbook photos correlate weakly, but positively within Whites. https://t.co/iRl6vByRfu" / X (archive.is)</ref> | ||
Also, in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, there is a similarly weak positive correlation between interviewer-rated attractiveness and scores on the various cognitive tests administered in that study, | However, other research indicated the association between looks and rated attractiveness was greater among women in this dataset.<ref>https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23780231241259679</ref> | ||
In the cases of these studies, potential confounds exist. Grooming & personal presentation, as well as factors like fashion sense, are not controlled for, so it's not clear if this relationship between physical attractiveness and looks is centred on 'objective looks' or facets of self-presentation that are linked to IQ and enhance perceptions of physical attractiveness. | |||
Also, a series of analyses conducted by the Incel Wiki team finds that in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, there is a similarly weak positive correlation between interviewer-rated attractiveness and scores on the various cognitive tests administered in that study, though the correlation was significantly stronger for verbal IQ and attractiveness among women (0.15 in females, vs. 0.07 among males, both p = < 0.01, p value using Fisher's r-to-z transformation = 0.0074, Add Health Wave III). | |||
In Add Health, using the digit span score test in Wave IV, the correlations are weaker for both sexes (0.04 for females vs. 0.07 among males, both p = < 0.05), with the magnitudes of these correlations not being significantly different (Fisher's z-test p value = 0.32). | |||
What's more, in the US General Social Survey, using interviewer rated looks and the short 'Wordsum' vocabulary test, there is a significant but weak correlation between looks and Wordsum scores among women (r = 0.06, p = 0.02), but not among men (r = 0.05, p = 0.09). | |||
These findings indicate that the relationship between physical attractiveness and IQ may be stronger among women than men, though there are various issues such as low reliability of measurements. The low reliability also likely underestimates the strength of the association between IQ and looks, though corrected it's still likely fairly weak, depending on sample (rough ballpark of r = 0.1-0.2 depending on sample, rating methodology and test used). | |||
In the cases of these studies, potential confounds also exist. Grooming & personal presentation, as well as factors like fashion sense, are not controlled for, so it's not clear if this relationship between physical attractiveness and looks is centred on 'objective looks' or facets of self-presentation that are linked to IQ and enhance perceptions of physical attractiveness. | |||
It may also be the case that IQ is mainly linked to looks in the case of 'bad genes', or neurodevelopmental, chromosomal, or other genetic conditions that both negatively influence physical attractiveness and IQ. Earlier studies did find a significant effect for looks only among unattractive individuals,<ref>https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2002-00344-009M</ref> though Mitchem et al. did not find any evidence for such non-linear effects. The association was non-significant throughout the entire range of physical attractiveness and IQ examined. The study also examined if the environmental correlation between IQ and looks was negative, i.e if high IQ people are better looking on the genetic but not on the observed level due to the effects of different environmental factors. They discovered no evidence to support this claim. | It may also be the case that IQ is mainly linked to looks in the case of 'bad genes', or neurodevelopmental, chromosomal, or other genetic conditions that both negatively influence physical attractiveness and IQ. Earlier studies did find a significant effect for looks only among unattractive individuals,<ref>https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2002-00344-009M</ref> though Mitchem et al. did not find any evidence for such non-linear effects. The association was non-significant throughout the entire range of physical attractiveness and IQ examined. The study also examined if the environmental correlation between IQ and looks was negative, i.e if high IQ people are better looking on the genetic but not on the observed level due to the effects of different environmental factors. They discovered no evidence to support this claim. | ||