Lori A. Roggman

Attractive Faces Are Only Average

Scientists and philosophers have searched for centuries for a parsimonious answer to the question of what constitutes beauty. We approached this problem from both an evolutionary and information-processing rationale and predicted that faces representing the average value of the population would be consistently judged as attractive. To evaluate this hypothesis, we digitized samples of male and female faces, mathematically averaged them, and had adults judge the attractiveness of both the individual faces and the computer-generated composite images. Both male (three samples) and female (three samples) composite faces were judged as more attractive than almost all the individual faces comprising the composites. A strong linear trend also revealed that the composite faces became more attractive as more faces were entered. These data showing that attractive faces are only average are consistent with evolutionary pressures that favor characteristics close to the mean of the population and with cognitive processes that favor prototypical category members.

What Is Average and What Is Not Average About Attractive Faces

We reported in this journal (Langlois & Roggman, 1990) findings showing that attractive faces are those that represent the mathematical average of faces in a population These findings were intriguing because they provided a parsimonious definition of facial attractiveness and because they supported explanations of attractiveness from the point of view of both evolutionary and cognitive-prototype theory Since our 1990 report, several alternative explanations of our findings have been offered In this article, we show that none of these alternatives explains our results adequately

Adolescent Perceived Attachment to Parents in Relation to Competence, Depression, and Anxiety A Longitudinal Study

Attachment theory leads to the suggestion that the supportive function of attachment relations may be most salient during early adolescent transitions, such as the childs transition into junior high. To test these effects, questionnaire measures of attachment to parents, emotional autonomy, perceived self-competence, depression, and anxiety were completed by forty-seven 12-year-olds at three times: the last semester of sixth grade, the first 2 months of seventh grade (in a junior high school), and the last semester of seventh grade. Correlational results revealed that attachment to parents was significantly and positively correlated with measures of self-perceived competence, especially during the childs transition into junior high (Time 2). Also, attachment to parents was found to be significantly but negatively related to adolescent feelings of depression and anxiety. These results support the expected emergence, during transitional periods, of the buffering effect of parent-adolescent attachment for adolescent feelings of competence and emotional well-being.

Early Adolescent Perceptions of Attachment to Mother and Father: A Test of the Emotional Distancing and Buffering Hypotheses

The purpose of this study was to empirically examine the emotional distancing and buffering hypotheses. The sample was composed of 231 seventh graders (133 females and 98 males). Each adolescent completed a battery of questionnaires yielding measures of perceived attachment to mother and father, pubertal status, family expressiveness and cohesion, and feelings of depression and social anxiety. The emotional-distancing hypothesis was supported in that perceived attachment to parents was found to diminish with advanced pubertal maturity. The buffering hypothesis was also supported in that adolescents who perceived greater attachment to parents reported less depression and social anxiety as well as more positive perceptions of family expressiveness and cohesion. However, pubertal maturity did not appear to moderate the buffering effects of attachment. Results are discussed in terms of the need to further explore socialization processes associated with the childs transition into early adolescence.

Modeling the Dynamics of Paternal Influences on Children Over the Life Course

Modeling the Dynamics of Paternal Influences on Children over the Life Course Is a heuristic model, which identifies sets of variables that predict father involvement, variables that interact to predict involvement, and variables that influence father characteristics and thereby influence involvement. It also suggests moderators and mediators of pathways from predictors to father involvement and from father involvement to child outcomes. It is a dynamic model, assuming change over the life course, while retaining paternal influences from one developmental period to another. The model is rooted in the extant literature, although it is not circumscribed by that literature. As a heuristic model, it offers a framework from which measurement models can be derived to address research questions of interest.

Low-Income Children's School Readiness: Parent Contributions Over the First Five Years

Early development is likely influenced by quality of early parenting and improvements or declines in quality over time. Little is known about how changes in different dimensions of parenting influence child outcomes, nor the relative sizes of associations when considering several aspects simultaneously. These questions are addressed in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project (N = 1273). Assessments occurred when children were 1, 2, 3, and 5 years old. Parent supportiveness (videotaped play interactions), home learning environment (observed), and depressive symptoms and parenting stress (self-report) were assessed. Childrens school readiness at age 5 was assessed via receptive vocabulary, letter–word knowledge, observed emotion regulation, approaches toward learning, and behavior problems. In this low-income sample, early parenting as well as change over time predicted school readiness. Associations mostly followed predictions from the family stress model and cognitive stimulation models; learning environment and maternal supportiveness were most strongly associated with child vocabulary and letter–word knowledge, although supportiveness was also linked with observed emotion regulation, and learning environment early on was also linked with emotion regulation, and early learning environment was also linked with emotion regulation, and early learning environment was also linked with behavior problems and approaches toward learning. Depressive symptoms and parenting stress were more strongly associated with behavior problems, although early parenting stress was also associated with approaches toward learning and emotion regulation.

It Takes Time: Impacts of Early Head Start that Lead to Reductions in Maternal Depression Two Years Later

The Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, a random-assignment evaluation, found a broad pattern of positive impacts for children and families. However, there were no program impacts on depression or use of mental health services by the time children reached age 3, at the end of the Early Head Start (EHS) program. This paper presents recent findings from the follow-up study in the spring prior to the children entering kindergarten, when a positive program impact emerged for reducing maternal depression. Results show that earlier program impacts on children and parents (when children were 2 and 3 years of age) mediated, or led to, the delayed impact on maternal depression. The combination of the most promising child factors accounted for over 57% of the later impact on depression, while the most promising parent factors accounted for over 35% of the later impact on depression. Implications for EHS programs are discussed.

Inside Home Visits: A Collaborative Look at Process and Quality

Abstract Home visit quality was assessed in an Early Head Start program (N = 92 families) using measures developed in collaboration with program staff. Parent ratings were high, indicating “customer satisfaction” with home visiting. Home visitors rated their relationships with parents as having a feeling of partnership and their home visits as typically going well. Researcher observations of home visits were consistent with the program’s theory of change: Home visitors attempted to facilitate parent-child interaction, parents were engaged in home visit activities, home visitors interacted mostly with both parent and child together. Families perceived by staff as improving the most had home visitors observed by researchers as most effective at engaging parents and involving parent and child together. Families seen as “success” cases showed consistently high engagement in home visits; while “nonsuccess” cases showed consistently low home visitor facilitation of parent-child interaction. Through a collaborative partnership, assessments of home visits were used to guide both program improvement and research.

Who Drops Out of Early Head Start Home Visiting Programs

Research Findings: Early Head Start home-based programs provide services through weekly home visits to families with children up to age 3, but families vary in how long they remain enrolled. In this study of 564 families in home-based Early Head Start programs, “dropping out” was predicted by specific variations in home visits and certain family characteristics. It also was negatively related to several targeted program outcomes. Home visits to dropout families focused less on child development, were less successful at engaging parents, and had more distractions. Dropout families had more risks and changes of residence, were more likely to be headed by a single mother, and were less likely to have a mother with poor English skills or a child with a documented disability. Practice or Policy: Home visiting programs may be able to reduce dropout rates, and thereby increase the duration of services to each family, by keeping home visits engaging and focused on child development and also by individualizing to the specific needs of families at risk for dropping out. To keep families involved longer, home visiting programs should consider (a) planning home visits that are longer, more engaging for both parent and child, scheduled at a time when there are fewer distractions for the family; and (b) spending the majority of time on child development activities and topics.

The Development of Social Toy Play and Language in Infancy

This longitudinal study examined the development of mother-infant social toy play in relation to infant language in two samples, one from 11 to 14 months (n = 70), and another from 14 to 17 months (n = 51) infant age. Infants were videotaped during a laboratory free-play session with mothers and were also assessed for language development. Individual variations in mother and infant social toy play behaviors were stable over time, but the frequency of infant initiations and maternal responses increased over time, especially from 11 to 14 months. Maternal responses to infant toy initiations, as well as manipulation and labeling of toys at 11 months were related to infant language at 14 months, while maternal coordinations with infants at 14 months were related to infant language at 17 months. The implications of mother and infant involvement in social toy play are discussed in relation to infant language development.