On the topic of social rankings, it seems that physical attractiveness, which seems to cause higher social ranking, may actually be confounded by variables like confidence. Or alternatively, physical attractiveness confounds confidence. I’m sure there’s a statistical term for this, I just don’t know it. I’ve based this on personal experience. Here are some quotes from Quora answers from people who self-claim attactiveness to illustrate:
for men:
‘What a lot of guys don’t realize is that the power that comes from being attractive comes more from the internal things you develop by being attractive (confidence, charisma, boldness etc) and not physical attributes. I know guys with average looks who get with more girls than me, or are more captivating speakers, or more popular. I didn’t have to work at any of those things, but guys who did and did it well can often do it better.’
for women it may be very different. In fact, looking into this, it seems like at least one woman differentiates men’s interest into predatorial and admiratory:
‘There is enough and more sexual and romantic attention. You start taking it for granted and sometimes are a little afraid of it. The truth is that you become a little cynical and jaded because most of these men aren’t really interested in you as a person. You are either a conquest or a trophy. There are exceptions of course, but they are not so easy to come by. And some attentions that are forced upon you are intrusive and sometimes even violative (I have been stalked twice).’
Interestingly, she doesn’t pass any value judgements, implying either doesn’t change their social status...rather, she feels it lowers her social status, as if it devalues her non physical traits.
That being says, she goes on to say:
‘A lot of women, including me, say that they would be valued more for their mind than their looks. I have been thinking about this lately about why intelligence should be valued over looks, although the more immediate reaction is the opposite. Beauty is ephemeral. But the mind fades too. You are blessed/cursed with either by some random genetic lottery and neither determines what good you do in the world, how you treat people or your moral compass (everyone has their own moraltiy, that they fall short of). In a work situation, I’d obviously prefer my competence to be appreciated. But otherwise I wonder how it matters.’
Suggesting she’s not just buying into traditional values and has calculated that her beauty depreciates faster than her intellect, and she isn’t confident in her ability to trade for a man’s attention in the long term.
On the topic of social rankings, it seems that physical attractiveness, which seems to cause higher social ranking, may actually be confounded by variables like confidence. Or alternatively, physical attractiveness confounds confidence. I’m sure there’s a statistical term for this, I just don’t know it. I’ve based this on personal experience. Here are some quotes from Quora answers from people who self-claim attactiveness to illustrate:
for men:
‘What a lot of guys don’t realize is that the power that comes from being attractive comes more from the internal things you develop by being attractive (confidence, charisma, boldness etc) and not physical attributes. I know guys with average looks who get with more girls than me, or are more captivating speakers, or more popular. I didn’t have to work at any of those things, but guys who did and did it well can often do it better.’
for women it may be very different. In fact, looking into this, it seems like at least one woman differentiates men’s interest into predatorial and admiratory:
‘There is enough and more sexual and romantic attention. You start taking it for granted and sometimes are a little afraid of it. The truth is that you become a little cynical and jaded because most of these men aren’t really interested in you as a person. You are either a conquest or a trophy. There are exceptions of course, but they are not so easy to come by. And some attentions that are forced upon you are intrusive and sometimes even violative (I have been stalked twice).’
Interestingly, she doesn’t pass any value judgements, implying either doesn’t change their social status...rather, she feels it lowers her social status, as if it devalues her non physical traits.
That being says, she goes on to say:
‘A lot of women, including me, say that they would be valued more for their mind than their looks. I have been thinking about this lately about why intelligence should be valued over looks, although the more immediate reaction is the opposite. Beauty is ephemeral. But the mind fades too. You are blessed/cursed with either by some random genetic lottery and neither determines what good you do in the world, how you treat people or your moral compass (everyone has their own moraltiy, that they fall short of). In a work situation, I’d obviously prefer my competence to be appreciated. But otherwise I wonder how it matters.’
Suggesting she’s not just buying into traditional values and has calculated that her beauty depreciates faster than her intellect, and she isn’t confident in her ability to trade for a man’s attention in the long term.