The increase in attractiveness is not because an individual looks more friendly or likable in a group; same happens even if the group is only made of of identical photographs of that person

Carragher, Daniel. Cheerleaders make fools of our first impressions [online]. Australasian Science, Vol. 39, No. 4, Jul/Aug 2018: 26-27. Availability: https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=056612671498998;res=IELAPA

Abstract: The "cheerleader effect" - the observation thatpeople appear more attractive when they are in a group - reveals some quirks about how the brain processes complicated visual information.

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[the increase in attractiveness is not because an individual looks more friendly or likable in a group ... the same effect occurs even if the group is only made of of identical photographs of the same person]