| Standards Of Attractiveness And Social Identity |
| Carlos Navarrette & Cleopatra Abdou |
| Date: 03/23/2006 |
Introduction
Research psychologists Carlos
Navarrete (Harvard University) and Cleopatra
Abdou (UCLA) are actively studying African American
men and women, their culture and how their self-identity
is affected by their hair and other physical
characteristics.
During the process of their
extensive research, these researchers have posed some
compelling questions about African Americans and their
self-concepts and social identities. In their past
research, they have found that the way that women
identifying as African American or Black wear their hair
can reflect their self-esteem and their views about
their own racial or ethnic group.
Navarrete and Abdou believe that
"particular physical features and feelings about
self-attractiveness might ultimately result in how
African Americans define themselves as individuals".
They now seek to expand their research to include men
and women of all ethnic backgrounds to get a better
sense of how these processes work similarly and/ or
differently among different groups of people. They have
designed a new online survey with these goals in mind in
order to scientifically test their initial findings on a
broader sample of people.
Among the scientific and social
questions that they wish to answer are:
-
How integral are hair and beauty
to the self-esteem and social identities of women of
color?
-
How do people of all ethnic
backgrounds learn to define and value themselves through
their appearance?
-
How do people learn to estimate
their relative levels of attractiveness?
-
How are overall well-being and
social behavior affected by these self-concepts that we
come to develop over time?
As Navarrete pointed out, "these
questions are probably relevant in the lives of both
African American males and females". However, he senses
that "there seems to be a much wider range of what is
considered attractive for African American males in our
society".
African American females, on the
other hand, as Navarrete commented, "may feel more
pressure to look a specific way in order to be
considered attractive by the masses". Abdou adds that
"ironically, few real people in the real world actually
resemble these standards of attractiveness that the vast
majority of us feel so much pressure to attain".
Given this paradoxical reality,
Navarrete and Abdou want to gain a better understanding
of how standards of attractiveness impact the everyday
lives of all people of color, and even White Americans.
If you would like to assist these researchers in finding
clearer answers to these important social questions,
please help them by
participating in their on-line survey regarding this
very important topic. The knowledge that they stand to
gain from each of you, as survey participants, has the
potential to greatly empower men and women of all
ethnicities in our society.
The survey is free, 100% anonymous,
fun, and only takes about 15 minutes to complete.
Please help by participating in their online survey.
Just a few minutes out of your day will assist with the
completion of this very important study.
If you have further questions about
this research study, please feel free to contact the
researchers at:
Carlos David Navarrete, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
WJH
962 – 33 Kirkland St
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
cdn at wjh.harvard.edu
Profile
Cleopatra Abdou, M.A.
Department of Psychology
University of California
1285 Franz
Hall – Box 951563
Los Angeles, CA. 90095 USA
cabdou at ucla.edu
Profile
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