Social and Psychological Aspects

Why Do Women Seek Physical Beauty? : A Cross-Cultural Approach to Understand the Physical Beauty of East Asian Women

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Abstract

Physical beauty has been a main research agenda of the social psychology of clothing. However, the body of research that has illustrated the main reasons that women seek physical beauty has been limited. This study examined what values are sought by women through their physical beauty. The physical beauty value, a new paradigm suggested by this research, is the value acquired through the improvement of physical beauty. As the cognition of beauty is affected by sociocultural contexts (Dion et al., 1990), the physical beauty value is also formulated based on cultural characteristics. This study selected Korean, Chinese and Japanese women in their 20s and 30s, and explored their physical beauty values with a crosscultural approach. Through this perspective, this study discovered a common physical beauty value in East Asia and specific physical beauty values salient in each culture.

Keywords: Improvement, Individuality, Beauty, Value, Authenticity, Superiority

How to Cite:

Kim, S. & Lee, Y., (2013) “Why Do Women Seek Physical Beauty? : A Cross-Cultural Approach to Understand the Physical Beauty of East Asian Women”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 70(1).