Adults' perceptions of the behavior of competent and dysfunctional children based on the children's physical appearance

Abstract

This study explored adults' judgments of competent and dysfunctional children's behavioral adjustment based solely on children's physical appearance. Adults rated photographs of preschoolers (6 boys, 6 girls) who previously had been classified as socially competent or dysfunctional on the basis of independent, standardized teacher ratings. Participants, who were not given any information about the stimulus children, rated their photographs one at a time on measures of attractiveness, aggression, anxiety, social competence, and overall adjustment. Results indicated that dysfunctional children were easily distinguished from their competent peers. Specifically, dysfunctional children were rated as less attractive, more aggressive, more anxious, less socially competent, and more likely to have an emotional or behavioral problem than competent children. These findings (especially strong for aggressive boys), remained significant when group differences in attractiveness were statistically controlled. Implications for interpreting the current literature on attractiveness and for modification of childhood behavior disorders are discussed.