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Number of friends and self-perception among Jamaican children: the role of attractiveness and fluctuating asymmetry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2019

A.S. Jacobson ,
R. Trivers  and
B.G. Palestis
A.S. Jacobson*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
R. Trivers
Affiliation:
Southfield, St Elizabeth, Jamaica
B.G. Palestis
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Wagner College, Staten Island, NY, USA
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Abstract

The role that physical attractiveness and fluctuating asymmetry (FA), a measure of developmental instability, play in self-perception and peer associations were explored in a well-studied cohort of Jamaican children using a novel research paradigm where subjects were already known to each other for extensive periods of time. The results showed that how attractive a child was perceived by others was significantly positively correlated with self-ratings of attractiveness. Contrary to findings from WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) samples, the study found a reversal in the sex differences in self-perceived attractiveness and self-esteem, where Jamaican females rate themselves more attractive and report higher self-esteem than do males. Attractiveness also predicts overall popularity, as measured by desirability as a friend and the percentage of peers who choose an individual as a friend. Attractive individuals of both sexes were chosen more often as ‘friends’. A significant correlation was also found between an individual’s FA and the average FA of those chosen as friends. However, the effect was primarily due to preferences by males for female friends possessing similar levels of FA, which could be an effective strategy in reducing future mating effort.

Keywords

Peer associationsFluctuating asymmetrySelf-perception
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , March 2020 , pp. 184 - 197
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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