Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Advanced Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, 2024
Year: 2024
DOI:
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The Relative Stability of The Concept of Beauty with Age
Prof. Dr. Slavka Demuthova, Prof. Andrej Demuth
ABSTRACT:
The concept of beauty is multifaceted and subject to various influences that include the age and gender of the perceiver. This study aimed to explore the relationship between age and the connotations associated with the concept of beauty over a lifespan. A sample of 1,558 adults aged 19 to 89 years provided connotations of beauty through free production tasks. Occurrences of sixty-two connotations were analysed with respect to age using Spearman’s correlation. The results showed that only three percent of the connotations had a significant correlation with age, suggesting that the concept of beauty is relatively stable over time. Specifically, associations with the terms “man” and “God” decreased as age increased, particularly among women. Separate analyses by gender revealed distinct patterns, with women reporting stronger associations between age and connotations related to “man,” “God,” and “friend.” In contrast, men reported correlations with connotations such as “flower,” “sea,” “joy,” and “figure,” suggesting shifts in perception away from physical attractiveness to natural scenery. The findings show the relative stability of the beauty concept over our lifespans, but also underscore the importance of considering gender in our understanding of the dynamics of the perception of beauty.
keywords: beauty; concept; lifespan; connotation; age