This quality (sometimes denigrated) is the one that makes you most attractive according to science

To appear attractive, it’s not just physical beauty that counts. Our way of being, our interests, and our way of interacting with others can also give us a certain aura. But one quality in particular has the power to make us beautiful, and it is neither humor nor intelligence.

This social trait that makes us more beautiful in the eyes of others

It’s actually about kindness which, according to a recent study published in the British Journal of Social Psychologysuggests that people seen as kind and helpful are also seen as more physically attractive. A person’s kindness could thus influence the judgment of others.

In their new study, Natalia Kononov and Danit Ein-Gar focused on prosocial behavior (acts of kindness, cooperation and mutual assistance) and sought to understand whether this quality had a particular effect on the perception of physical beauty. They also examined whether the influence of kindness on perceived beauty was stronger than that of other positive traits such as humor or intelligence.

The study looked at ten studies with more than 4,000 participants and designed a variety of scenarios to assess whether prosocial behavior influences people’s physical appearance. Participants viewed images of people accompanied by descriptions of prosocial or neutral behaviors, then rated their physical attractiveness on a standardized scale. In some studies, participants only read information about the target without seeing any images, which allowed researchers to determine whether the effects of prosocial behavior went beyond visual impressions.

With what results? People described as having kind or helpful behaviors were rated as more beautiful than those who were not described that way. This result also held true for both male and female observers rating targets of both sexes, suggesting a broad appeal of prosociality to enhance physical attractiveness.

The unconscious desire to be around a nice person

The hypothesis emanating from this study was that people might feel motivated to associate with prosocial individuals, viewing them as more attractive due to an unconscious desire to form bonds with people who demonstrate kindness.

Kindness surpasses even other qualities

The study also detailed other variables.

• The first is therefore that this effect of prosociality on attractiveness is consistent for all sexes. “Kindness and generosity make men and women more attractive, regardless of who or who is evaluating them. This universal appeal to all genders highlights how kindness can shape perceptions of beauty.”
• This effect works especially when a person’s kindness is habitual. The one-off act, on the other hand, would have little effect.
• The “attractive” effect would also be stronger than those of other positive traits, such as humor or intelligence. “It’s interesting because while people often view humor and intelligence as highly attractive traits, kindness can actually have a stronger impact on a person’s attractiveness. This finding suggests that kindness may be more central to our perception of beauty than we usually think.
• Finally, prosocial behavior even attenuated participants’ judgment of physical imperfections. “When a person was described as prosocial, participants were less likely to focus on minor flaws, such as scars or other physical irregularities, compared to nonprosocial individuals.” This suggests that kindness may improve attractiveness not only by reinforcing positive impressions but also by reducing attention to imperfections.

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