Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, I Deserve More Than All: perceived attractiveness and self-interested behavior

<p dir="ltr">A substantial amount of research has demonstrated that good-looking individuals are perceived and treated in a favorable manner; however, relatively little research has examined how attractive people actually behave. There are two predominant theories on attractiveness: the self-fulfilling nature of “what is beautiful is good” from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/social-psychology" target="_blank">social psychology</a> and the evolutionary perspective of attractiveness, make divergent predictions in this regard. The current research systematically investigated whether physical attractiveness can predict self-interested behavior and, if so, in which direction. Across five studies (<i>N</i> = 1303), self-perceived attractiveness, either chronically experienced (Studies 1–3) or temporarily heightened (Studies 4 and 5), predicted and increased self-interested behavioral intention and behavior. Increased psychological entitlement acted as a mediator in this process (Studies 1–5). Furthermore, the publicity of the act was a boundary condition for the effect of attractiveness on self-interested behavior (Study 5). We have discussed theoretical and practical implications.<br></p>