Beauty of the Accused Unfairly Affects Perceptions of Their Culpability

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121009092741.htm

ScienceDaily (Oct. 9, 2012) — A study from the University of Granada based on police surveys indicates that in domestic violence crimes in which the woman kills her abuser, if she is more attractive she is perceived as guiltier.

From a social psychology point of view, it has been noticed that physical attractiveness has an influence on how people are perceived by others in labour, academic and even legal fields. On the one hand, this creates the mental association of "what is beautiful is good." On the other hand though, when it comes to domestic violence the results are different.

"One of the most interesting conclusions of the study was that when the woman accused of killing her abuser was attractive, participants attached greater culpability, whereas if considered 'unattractive', this decreases," as explained by Antonio Herrera, Inmaculada Valor-Segura and Francisca Expósito, the authors of the study published in 'The European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context'.

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