Why Being in a Group Can Make You More Attractive
Have you ever noticed that members of a music band, cheerleading squad, or other teams often seem more attractive when you see them together? Yet, if you saw these people individually, you might not pay them much attention. This is known as the “cheerleader effect.” Let’s take a closer look at what it is and why it happens.
What Is the Cheerleader Effect?
When we look at a group of people, we tend to perceive them as a whole, which causes individual features to blend together. A face surrounded by others often appears more attractive than it does alone. This phenomenon is called the cheerleader effect. As described in Urban Dictionary: “A cheerleading squad looks attractive as a group, but upon closer inspection, each member may not seem as appealing individually.”
Scientific Research on Group Attractiveness
A study published in the journal Psychological Science by Drew Walker and Edward Vul from the University of California explored this effect through a series of experiments. Participants were asked to rate the attractiveness of people in photographs. Some photos showed individuals alone, while others showed them as part of a group. Both men and women rated people as more attractive when they appeared in a group.
Walker and Vul explain that our visual system processes a group as a single unit, and the individual features within the group are averaged out. This means that unique or less symmetrical features are balanced by the presence of others, making each person seem more attractive overall.
The Ebbinghaus Illusion and Perception
This effect is similar to the Ebbinghaus illusion, where identical circles appear different in size depending on the surrounding circles. The context changes our perception. In the same way, when we see a face among other faces, we focus less on individual characteristics and more on the group as a whole.
Even faces that are asymmetrical or disproportionate can appear more balanced when seen in a group. The number of people doesn’t matter much—sometimes, just two people are enough to create this effect.
Three Cognitive Phenomena Behind the Effect
- The visual system combines the faces in a group into a single image.
- Individual facial features become less noticeable.
- The brain recognizes an average appearance as more attractive.
As a result, scientists concluded that an attractive person looks even better when surrounded by others. Distinctive or unusual features are “smoothed out” against the backdrop of the group, and the overall appearance moves closer to the average standard of beauty.
Social Implications
This effect can even help explain some social biases. Social categorization is the mental process of dividing people into groups based on characteristics like age, gender, or ethnicity. While this helps us interact quickly, it can also have serious consequences.