Live Poster Session: Zoom Link
Emerson Jenisch
Emerson Jenisch is a sophomore majoring in music in the concentration of composition and theory with a minor in global engagement. Her interests include ethnomusicology, experimental/improvisational music, and nonfiction writing. She is a choreographer for the dance group Collective Motion and plays the hammered dulcimer individually and in collaboration with student compositions and performances.
Abstract: Approximately 40-50% of marriages in the United States end in divorce (American Psychological Association). In 2019, the U.S Census Bureau recorded 2,245,404 marriages and 827,261 divorces (U.S Census Bureau). Research has shown that physical attractiveness in adulthood plays a role in marital success (MaKellams, 2017). This research speaks to the interpersonal roles that perceived attractiveness often dictates. Minimal past research has been conducted on how one’s perceived personality attractiveness as a child contributes to marital status rather than one’s physical attractiveness. Furthermore, there has been little research into the way that one’s level of attractiveness as a child influences their marital success later in life. This idea of development over time is taken into account in this study. The development of one’s self esteem is an important factor to take into consideration because it demonstrates the way that one’s social settings and the resulting perceptions impact one’s ability to have successful relationships in adulthood. This study investigates whether individuals with higher attractiveness scores are more likely to have successful marriages, and whether this association differs depending on the specific way (physical or personality-based) in which attractiveness is assessed. The analysis demonstrates that there is a significant relationship between perceived physical unattractiveness and divorce, and between perceived emotional unattractiveness and divorce. However, when examining the relationship between perceived physical attractiveness and divorce rates after controlling for emotional attractiveness, the relationship is not significant. This result is important as it demonstrates that those who are more likely to be rated as physically attractive are also perceived as more emotionally attractive. This result also speaks to the impacts of societal standards, as those who are perceived as attractive in childhood are more likely to have successful marriages later in life.
Attractiveness-and-Marital-Success