Keywords
lipstick effect, economic concern, appearance enhancement
Abstract
The phenomenon of increased desire for, and use of, appearance-enhancing items during times of economic recession has been termed the lipstick effect. The motivation underlying this effect has been attributed to women’s desires to enhance their attractiveness to financially stable partners (Hill, Rodeheffer, Griskevicius, Durante, & White, 2012). In the present research, we found evidence for our proposal that during times of economic recession, the heightened economic concern experienced by women translates into increased desire to use appearance-enhancing items to both attract romantic partners and create a favorable impression of themselves in the workplace, as both strategies can help women become secure financially. We also found that women with high economic concern elect to improve their professional appearance more frequently than their romantic attractiveness, which suggests that their motivation to obtain resources through a job dominates their motivation to obtain resources through a partner.
Original Publication Citation
"Netchaeva, E., & Rees, M. R. (2016). Strategically stunning: The professional motivations behind the lipstick effect. Psychological Science, 27(8), 1157-1168."
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Netchaeva, Ekaterina and Rees, McKenzie, "Strategically Stunning: The Professional Motivations Behind the Lipstick Effect" (2016). Faculty Publications. 9717.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/9717
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2016
Publisher
Psychological Science
Language
English
College
Marriott School of Business
Department
Marketing
University Standing at Time of Publication
Assistant Professor
Copyright Use Information
https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/
DOWNLOADS
Since
COinS
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.