Not All That Glitters Is Gold: Attractive Partners Provide Joys and Sorrows

Anna Cardelli, Camilla Matera (), Giulia Rosa Policardo, Cristian Di Gesto and Amanda Nerini
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Anna Cardelli: School of Psychology, University of Florence, 50137 Florence, Italy
Camilla Matera: Department of Education, Languages, Intercultures, Literatures and Psychology, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy
Giulia Rosa Policardo: Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, 50139 Florence, Italy
Cristian Di Gesto: Department of Education, Languages, Intercultures, Literatures and Psychology, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy
Amanda Nerini: Department of Education, Languages, Intercultures, Literatures and Psychology, University of Florence, 50135 Florence, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 20, 1-18

Abstract: Through a 2 × 2 experimental vignette design, we tested if partner perceived attractiveness in interaction with appearance-related comments from one’s partner might affect women and men’s body dissatisfaction, body shame, acceptance of cosmetic surgery, and perceived relationship quality. Participants were 154 women and 157 men living in Italy (mean age = 30.97; all of them were in a couple relationship), who read a vignette describing the purchase of a swimsuit, through which partner attractiveness (poor versus high) and partner commentary (negative versus positive) were manipulated. Some ANCOVAs were performed on women and men separately. For men, partner commentary affected body dissatisfaction with low body fat. Moreover, the main effect of partner attractiveness was found in their consideration of undergoing cosmetic procedures. Among women, a significant partner attractiveness X partner commentary interaction effect emerged on acceptance of cosmetic surgery for social reasons. As regards relationship quality, for women, there was a main effect of partner attractiveness on relational communication, while a marginally significant interaction effect between partner attractiveness and partner commentary emerged for men’s self-disclosure. Our findings suggest that partner attractiveness is generally beneficial, but when combined with negative feedback concerning the appearance, it might lose its advantages. These findings should be considered for planning interventions aimed at both preventing body dissatisfaction and acceptance of cosmetic surgical procedures for not medical reasons and promoting relationship satisfaction among women and men.

Keywords: partner attractiveness; partner commentary; body dissatisfaction; cosmetic surgery; relationship quality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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