If you exhibit positive traits such as honesty and helpfulness, the chances are that you will perceived as a good looking person, for a new study has found that the perception of physical attractiveness is influenced by a person's personality.

The study, led by Gary W. Lewandowski, Jr, found that people who exhibit negative traits, such as unfairness and rudeness, appear to be less physically attractive to observers.

In the study, the participants viewed photographs of opposite-sex individuals and rated them for attractiveness before and after being provided with information on personality traits.

After personality information was received, participants also rated the desirability of each individual as a friend and as a dating partner.

Information on personality was found to significantly alter perceived desirability, showing that cognitive processes and expectations modify judgments of attractiveness.

"Perceiving a person as having a desirable personality makes the person more suitable in general as a close relationship partner of any kind," said Lewandowski.

The findings show that a positive personality leads to greater desirability as a friend, which leads to greater desirability as a romantic partner and, ultimately, to being viewed as more physically attractive.

The findings remained consistent regardless of how "attractive" the individual was initially perceived to be, or of the participants' current relationship status or commitment level with a partner.

The study simulates a more typical context in which seeing the person's appearance precedes learning about their personality, and shows that perceptions of a person's physical attractiveness may change over time due to their positive or negative traits.

"This research provides a more positive alternative by reminding people that personality goes a long way toward determining your attractiveness; it can even change people's impressions of how good looking you are," said Lewandowski.

研究發現，一個人的性格會影響他的外表的吸引力，所以如果你展示自己諸如誠實和樂于助人這些正面的品質，別人就很有可能覺得你是一個相貌好看的人。

由Gary W. Lewandowski,發起的這項研究發現，如果一個人表現出諸如狹隘偏激和粗暴這類負面的品質，他們的外表對觀察者的吸引力就會較小。

研究中，參加者們觀察異性的照片，讓他們在知道對方的性格特征之前和之后，分別去評價其吸引力。

在了解對方的性格之后，讓參與者仍然將對方作為朋友或者約會伙伴的角度來考慮，看中意程度任何。

在獲悉對方性格之后，參與者對對方的滿意程度有很大的改變。這表明，認知過程與期望能改變一個人對別人外表的喜歡程度。

“如果感覺到這個人有很好的性格品質，人們通常會樂意與他成為各種關系的親密伙伴。” Lewandowski說。

研究表明，人們更原意與一個有良好品質的人成為朋友——那種能夠很容易地過渡為情人的朋友，總之，這就叫外表上更具魅力！

不管參與者最初對對方的感覺如何，或者說不管對方目前在參與者心中的地位和獲得的評價是怎樣的，這項研究的結果都能夠成立。

研究模擬了一個更加典型的語境。在這個更加典型的語境里，讓參與者在了解性格之前先看對方的外貌，結果顯示一個人的正面或者負面的性格品質可以永遠的改變他的外在魅力。

這項研究可以引導人們的性格朝正面去發展，因為它提醒人們，你的性格可以長期的影響你的外在吸引力，它甚至能讓人們感覺你相貌姣好。