Beautiful Faces Have Variable Reward Value: Fmri and Behavioral Evidence
Neuron, Vol. 32, 537–551, November 8, 2001, Copyright 2001 by Cell Press Beautiful Faces Have Variable Reward Value: fMRI and Behavioral Evidence Itzhak Aharon,1,2,7 Nancy Etcoff,3,7 Dan Ariely,4,7 1994). The strong motivational influence of beauty has Christopher F. Chabris,1,2,5,7 Ethan O’Connor,4 been shown in studies of labor markets suggesting that and Hans C. Breiter1,2,3,6 there is a ”beauty premium” and “plainness penalty” 1Motivation and Emotion Neuroscience Center (Hamermesh and Biddle, 1994) such that attractive indi- Department of Radiology viduals are more likely to be hired, promoted, and to earn Massachusetts General Hospital and higher salaries than unattractive individuals (Marlowe et Harvard Medical School al., 1996; Frieze et al., 1990, 1991). Darwinian ap- Boston, Massachusetts 02129 proaches to the study of facial attractiveness posit that 2Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical the features of beautiful faces are important biological Imaging signals of mate value that motivate behavior in others Massachusetts General Hospital (Etcoff, 1999; Grammer and Thornhill, 1994; Perrett et Massachusetts Institute of Technology and al., 1998; Symons, 1995). Harvard Medical School Given the association between beauty and motivated Boston, Massachusetts 02129 behavior in individuals assessing it, it is possible that the 3Department of Psychiatry brain circuitry implicated in reward function underlying Massachusetts General Hospital and motivated behavior is activated by the social signals Harvard Medical School contained in beautiful faces. Research with another so- Building 149, 13th Street cial stimulus, namely money, has implicated an ex- Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129 tended set of brain reward regions with the anticipation 4Massachusetts Institute of Technology and reception of monetary outcomes (Breiter et al., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 1996b, 2001; Delgado et al., 2000; Elliott et al., 2000; 5Department of Psychology Knutson et al., 2000, 2001; O’Doherty et al., 2001; Thut Harvard University et al., 1997).
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