ERIC Number: EJ912237
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Jan
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0092-055X
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Judging Books by Their Covers: Teaching about Physical Attractiveness Biases
Kwan, Samantha; Trautner, Mary Nell
Teaching Sociology, v39 n1 p16-26 Jan 2011
Sociologists have developed a wide range of pedagogical strategies to facilitate student learning about racial/ethnic, class, and gender inequalities. Despite the growing subdiscipline of the sociology of the body and evidence pointing to the prevalence of inequalities based on physical attractiveness, the pedagogical literature has yet to develop strategies for teaching students about biases based on physical attractiveness. In this article, the authors report on a pedagogical module that involves student evaluations of photographs (depicting individuals ranging in levels of physical attractiveness) using semantic differential scales, and discuss the results of this evaluation. The authors test for student learning outcomes through (1) a one-group pretest-posttest design and (2) an assessment survey with both qualitative and quantitative components. Because this photograph evaluation typically illustrates students' beauty biases, a discussion of these results, paired with relevant readings, provides a powerful tool for the exchange of ideas about physical attractiveness biases. (Contains 2 tables and 8 notes.)
Descriptors: Photography, Student Evaluation, Semantics, Interpersonal Attraction, Semantic Differential, Teaching Methods, Evaluation Methods, Human Body, College Students, Adults, Sociology, Pretests Posttests, Bias
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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