Citation

Corsini RJ. Am. J. Sociol. 1959; 65(1): 49-51.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1959, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

10.1086/222625

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The theory of "contacts shyness" it that differential physical attractiveness leads to variable social behavior. Following the hypothesis that burglars who commit "behind-the-back" crimes should be less attractive than robbers who commit "face-to-face" crimes, a sample of prison photographs of men equated for age, race, and intelligence was rated for "attractiveness" by a large sample of other prisoners. There was no tendency for prisoners of any class to show patterns to preferences different from the entire group. Uniformities of rankings did occur in substantiation of the hypothesis. The old theory of physiognomy in relation to personality is to some degree upheld.