Self-Assessment and Appearance Evaluation in Student Group as Predictors in Relationships of Interpersonal Significance

The paper attempts to integrate the concept of relationships of interpersonal significance, approaches to the correlation between physical appearance and life satisfaction, as well as several concepts of interpersonal cognition, self-assessment and evaluations of other people’s physical appearance. It introduces the concept of “insignificant/significant assessor of appearance” and argues that among the factors that turn a group member into the “insignificant/significant assessor of appearance” are evaluations, self-evaluations and group evaluations of physical appearance. The research described in the paper involved 89 students aged 19—21 (M=20 years), 66 females and 23 males, members of five groups that have been studying together for three years. The methods employed in the study included: “The Evaluation/Content Interpretation of Appearance and its Correspondence with Gender/Age Constructs”, a technique developed by V.A. Labunskaya; a modification of a sociometric test that helped reveal “insignificant/significant assessors of appearance”. Also, nonparametric mathematical methods were used to carry out comparative analysis. The outcomes show that there are considerable differences between the self-assessments, evaluations of physical appearance of those group members who are “significant assessors of appearance”, and group evaluations of their appearance. The research was conducted with the assistance of the Southern Federal University (project № 213.01-07-2014/15ПЧВГ “Threats to National Security in Situations of Geopolitical Competition and Models of Aggressive and Hostile Behavior in Children and Youth in Southern Russia” – project part of the inner grant of the Southern Federal University).

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