Blog Post 9: Barney's "Crazy-Hot Scale"

Based on what I've read Physical Attractiveness Stereotype or the "Crazy-Hot Scale" of Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother is a term that psychologists use to refer to the tendency to assume that people who physically attractive also possess other socially desirable personality traits. And stereotyping is the process by which we draw inferences about others based on knowledge of categories which they belong.

What attracts people to each other ?

Are there universal standards for physical attraction?

The first article that I've read is about Physical Attraction Psychology by M.Farouk Radwan, MSc. This article states that there are certain features that are considered universally attractive by most people still each and every person perceive beauty according to his own desires.  What features do most people consider attractive ?  First is waist to hip ratio, even if you deny it I think most of us are more attracted to women with an hour glass body shape. Second is Symmetry, it was found that symmetrical faces are considered more attractive than non symmetrical faces across all cultures. Third is Health, Researches has shown that the more healthy the person is the better his looks will be and the more attractive he will appear to be. Fourth is the Height, Many studies revealed that the majority of women prefer to date men who are taller than them but according to psychology beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that's why you might find many women dating shorter men. Fifth are Feminine facial features: Men prefer women who have feminine facial features over other women. Women on the other hand prefer men with feminine facial features when they are not fertile and prefer men who have more masculine features when they are fertile. Sixth is well built, women prefer well built men (not necessary body builders). Women prefer men who have wider shoulders and narrow waists with minimal belly fat. And lastly jaws and cheek bones, women prefer men who have relatively bigger jaws and more prominent cheek bones since they both give a more masculine look to the man. 

This article clearly discussed some features what attracts to men and women. And as for Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother what attracts him the most are the waist to hip ratio because he always says “God Forbid that she’s FAT”.. And well built, Barney always looks for better featured woman even though he already has one.

Another article that I’ve read is The Attractiveness Stereotype and Barney’s“Crazy-Hot” Scale by Dr. Sadie Leder. This article claims that Beautiful people are believed to be better on a number of points of view and are thus treated accordingly. For most of us, this happens outside of our awareness and interestingly, even young children show these preferences and biases. Like it or not, one of the most influential factors in romantic attraction is physical attractiveness. That’s right, hotness! Psychologists’ refer to this beauty bias as the “attractiveness stereotype,” and for decades they’ve shown that people have a tendency to assume that those who are physically attractive are not only desirable because they’re hot, but also because they are believed to possess a number of other socially desirable traits.

 In one of the episodes of How I Met Your Mother Barney explains his “crazy-hot” scale, whereby a man tolerates a woman’s craziness only to the extent that it is offset by an equal level of attractiveness. In a very matter of fact fashion, he recounts to his friends his past dating conquests, explaining that moderately hot women were allowed to be only moderately crazy, whereas very hot partners were granted excessive toleration for their craziness. Although his friends may not endorse his self proclaimed theories, Barney referred to Ted and his current girlfriend (referred to only as “Blah Blah”) is a perfect example of not only Barney’s point or this article.