Change in Evaluation Mode Can Cause a Cheerleader Effect

Abstract

The cheerleader effect describes the phenomenon whereby faces are perceived as being more attractive when flanked by other faces than when they are perceived in isolation. At least four theories predict the cheerleader effect. Two visual memory processes could cause a cheerleader effect. First, visual information will sometimes be averaged in the visual memory: the averaging of faces could increase the perceived attractiveness of all the faces flanked by other faces. Second, information will often be combined into a higher-order concept. This hierarchical encoding suggests that information processing causes faces to appear more attractive when flanked by highly attractive faces. Two further explanations posit that comparison processes cause the cheerleader effect. While contrast effects predict that a difference between the target face and the flanking faces causes the cheerleader effect due to comparison processes, a change in the evaluation mode, which alters the standard of comparison between joint and separate evaluation of faces, could be sufficient for producing a cheerleader effect. This leads to the prediction that even when there is no contrast between the attractiveness of the target face and the flanking faces, a cheerleader effect could occur. The results of one experiment support this prediction. The findings of this study have practical implications, such as for individuals who post selfies on social media. An individual's face will appear more attractive in a selfie taken with people of low attractiveness than in a selfie without other people, even when all the faces have equally low levels of attractiveness.

Keywords: attractiveness; change in evaluation mode; cheerleader effect; evaluation mode; hierarchical encoding.

FIGURE 1

Predictions of target face attractiveness. This figure illustrates that the four theories differ in their predictions of how the attractiveness of a target face changes when it is flanked by other faces. The dashed lines represent the ratings of the attractive and unattractive faces when they are not flanked. The circles indicate the ratings of the flanked faces. Averaging visual information leads to increased perceived attractiveness, regardless of the attractiveness of the target and flankers compared to the unflanked target. According to hierarchical encoding, visual information is stored in higher-order representations. The rating of the target depends on this representation and drifts to the mean rating of all simultaneously presented faces. The contrast effect states that the flanking faces provide the standard of comparison for the target faces. If this standard is low, the target is rated as more attractive and vice versa. Presenting a target with flankers rather than in isolation leads to a change in the evaluation mode. The target is no longer compared to the internal standard; instead the difference between target and flankers becomes important. If there is a contrast between target and flankers, the rating becomes more extreme; if there is no contrast, the rating becomes more moderate. This figure demonstrates that the four theories differ in their predictions of how the attractiveness of a target face changes when it is flanked by other faces.

FIGURE 2

Changes in the attractiveness of faces of low and high attractiveness due to flankers of low and high attractiveness. This figure illustrates the changes in the mean and the 95% confidence interval in the attractiveness of target faces of low and high attractiveness when they are not flanked, and when they are flanked by faces of low or high attractiveness (ns = not significant; * < 0.05; ** < 0.01; *** < 0.001).