Marta KowalPiotr SorokowskiKatarzyna PisanskiJaroslava V. ValentovaMarco A. C. VarellaDavid A. FrederickLaith Al-ShawafFelipe E. GarciaIsabella GiammussoBiljana GjoneskaLuca KozmaTobias OtterbringMarietta Papadatou-PastouGerit PfuhlSabrina StockliAnna StudzinskaEzgi Toplu-DemirtasAnna K. TouloumakosBence E. BakosCarlota BatresSolenne BonneterreJohanna Czamanski-CohenJovi C. DacanayEliane DeschrijverMaryanne L. FisherCaterina GranoDmitry GrigoryevPavol KacmarMikhail V. KozlovEfisio ManuntaKarlijn MassarJoseph P. McFallMoises MebarakMaria Rosa MiccoliTaciano L. MilfontPavol ProkopToivo AavikPatricia ArriagaRoberto BaioccoJiri CenekHakan CetinkayaIzzet DuyarFarida GuemazTatsunori IshiiJulia A. KamburidisHareesol Khun-InkeereeLinda H. LidborgHagar ManorRavit NussinsonMohd Sofian B. Omar-FauzeeFarid PazhoohiKoen PonnetAnabela Caetano SantosOksana SenykOgnen SpasovskiMona VintilaAustin H. WangGyesook YooOulmann ZerhouniRizwana AminSibele AquinoMerve BogaMahmoud BoussenaAli R. CanSeda CanRita CastroAntonio ChirumboloOgeday CokerClement CornecSeda DuralStephanie J. EderNasim Ghahraman MoharrampourSimone GrassiniEvgeniya HristovaGozde IkizerNicolas KervynMehmet KoyuncuYoshihiko KunisatoSamuel LinsTetyana MandzykSilvia MariAlan D. A. MattiassiAybegum Memisoglu-SanliMara MorelliFelipe C. NovaesMiriam PariseIrena Pavela BanaiMariia PerunNejc PlohlFatima Zahra SahliDusana SakanSanja Smojver-AzicCaglar SolakSinem SoylemezAsako ToyamaAnna WlodarczykYuki YamadaBeatriz Abad-VillaverdeReza AfhamiGrace AkelloNael H. AlamiLeyla AlmaMarios ArgyridesDerya Atamturk AtamturkNana BurduliSayra CardonaJoao CarneiroAndrea CastanedaIzabela ChalatkiewiczWilliam J. ChopikDimitri ChubinidzeDaniel Conroy-BeamJorge Contreras-GardunoDiana Ribeiro da SilvaYahya B. DonSilvia DonatoDmitrii DubrovMichaela DurackovaSanjana DuttSamuel O. EbimgboIgnacio EstevanEdgardo EtchezaharPeter FedorFeten Fekih-RomdhaneTomasz FrackowiakKatarzyna GalasinskaLukasz GargulaBenjamin GelbartTalia Gomez YepesBrahim HamdaouiIvana HromatkoSalome N. ItibiLuna JaforteSteve M. J. JanssenMarija JovicKevin S. KertechianFarah KhanAleksander KobylarekMaida Koso-DrljevicAnna KrasnodebskaValerija KrizanicMiguel Landa-BlancoAlvaro MailhosTiago MarotTamara Martinac DorcicMartha Martinez-BanfiMat Rahimi YusofMarlon Mayorga-LascanoVita MikuliciuteKatarina MiseticBojan MusilArooj NajmussaqibKavitha Nalla MuthuJean C. NatividadeIzuchukwu L. G. NdukaiheEllen K. NyhusElisabeth OberzaucherSalma S. OmarFranciszek OstaszewskiMa Criselda T. PacquingAriela F. PaganiJu Hee ParkEkaterine PirtskhalavaUlf-Dietrich ReipsMarc Eric S. ReyesJan P. RoerAysegul SahinAdil SamekinRuta SargautyteTatiana SemenovskikhHenrik SiepelmeyerSangeeta SinghAlicja SoltysAgnieszka SorokowskaRodrigo Soto-LopezLiliya SultanovaWilliam Tamayo-AgudeloChee-Seng TanGulmira T. TopanovaMerve Topcu BulutBastien TremoliereSingha TulyakulBelguzar N. TurkanArkadiusz UrbanekTatiana VolkodavKathryn V. WalterMohd Faiz Mohd YaakobMarcos Zumarraga-EspinosaFrederick, David A.Kowal, MartaVarella, Marco A.C.Zumárraga-Espinosa, MarcosValentova, Jaroslava V.Pisanski, KatarzynaSorokowski, Piotr2025-10-0620221090-51381879-060710.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.08.0032-s2.0-85137282665http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.08.003https://gcris.yasar.edu.tr/handle/123456789/7949https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.08.003People across the world and throughout history have gone to great lengths to enhance their physical appearance. Evolutionary psychologists and ethologists have largely attempted to explain this phenomenon via mating preferences and strategies. Here we test one of the most popular evolutionary hypotheses for beauty-enhancing behaviors drawn from mating market and parasite stress perspectives in a large cross-cultural sample. We also test hypotheses drawn from other influential and non-mutually exclusive theoretical frameworks from biosocial role theory to a cultural media perspective. Survey data from 93158 human participants across 93 countries provide evidence that behaviors such as applying makeup or using other cosmetics hair grooming clothing style caring for body hygiene and exercising or following a specific diet for the specific purpose of improving ones physical attractiveness are universal. Indeed 99% of participants reported spending >10 min a day performing beauty-enhancing behaviors. The results largely support evolutionary hypotheses: more time was spent enhancing beauty by women (almost 4 h a day on average) than by men (3.6 h a day) by the youngest participants (and contrary to predictions also the oldest) by those with a relatively more severe history of infectious diseases and by participants currently dating compared to those in established relationships. The strongest predictor of attractiveness-enhancing behaviors was social media usage. Other predictors in order of effect size included adhering to traditional gender roles residing in countries with less gender equality considering oneself as highly attractive or conversely highly unattractive TV watching time higher socioeconomic status right-wing political beliefs a lower level of education and personal individualistic attitudes. This study provides novel insight into universal beauty-enhancing behaviors by unifying evolutionary theory with several other complementary perspectives.Englishinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessEvolutionary theory, Mating market perspective, Pathogen stress, Appearance, Self-modification, Social media usageSOCIAL MEDIA USE, WOMENS BODY-IMAGE, SEX-DIFFERENCES, OBJECTIFICATION THEORY, MATE PREFERENCES, EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE, FACIAL ATTRACTIVENESS, SELF-OBJECTIFICATION, PERSONAL ORNAMENTS, GENDER-ROLESocial Media UsageSelf-modificationAppearancePathogen StressEvolutionary TheoryMating Market PerspectiveArticle