PAP, August 2009

With the exam results season well and truly upon us, we discover what your appearance might mean for your final grades. We also find out why it could make sense to ditch that diet: it seems men prefer average shaped women after all. And do you appreciate a GSOH? We learn how having a good sense of humour can affect your attractiveness – or should that be, how your attractiveness can affect your sense of humour?

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The articles covered in the show:

Li, N. P., Griskevicius, V., Durante, K. M., Jonason, P. K., Pasisz, D. J., & Aumer, K. (2009). An evolutionary perspective on humor: sexual selection or interest indication? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(7), 923-936. Read summary

French, M. T., Robins, P. K., Homer, J. F., & Tapsell, L. M. (2009). Effects of physical attractiveness, personality, and grooming on academic performance in high school. Labour Economics, 16(4), 373-382. Read summary

Donohoe, M. L., von Hippel, W., & Brooks, R. C. (2009). Beyond waist-hip ratio: experimental multivariate evidence that average women's torsos are most attractive. Behavioral Ecology, 20, 716-721. Read summary

PAP, July 2009

Beauty Wars - how competition between women for the best partner can affect men’s preferences. Also this month, we find out how makeup use changes over the menstrual cycle and whether more curvaceous women are worse at spotting a bad boy.

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The articles covered in the show:

Röder, S., Brewer, G., & Fink, B. (2009). Menstrual cycle shifts in women’s self-perception and motivation: a daily report method. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(6), 616-619. Read summary

Fisher, M., & Cox, A. (2009). The influence of female attractiveness on competitor derogation. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 7(2), 141-155. Read summary

Smith, F. G., Jones, B. C., Welling, L. L. W., Little, A. C., Vukovic, J., Main, J. C., et al. (2009). Waist-hip ratio predicts women's preferences for masculine male faces, but not perceptions of men's trustworthiness. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(5), 476-480. Read summary