People rated themselves as more attractive at later times of a bar's opening hours; this “closing time effect” applied to men regardless of their relationship status, and applied only to single women

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder but rarely because of the beer. Tobias Otterbring, Kristian Rolschau. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 179, September 2021, 110921. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110921

Highlights

• The present research examined whether beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

• People rated themselves as more attractive at later times of a bar's opening hours.

• This “closing time effect” applied to men regardless of their relationship status

• However, this “pretty” pattern only occurred among single women

• People erroneously attributed the “closing time effect” to alcohol consumption.

Abstract: Across three studies, the present research examined beliefs and real-world responses pertaining to whether bar patrons' self-rated attractiveness would be higher later in the night. Contrary to beliefs held by lay people (Study 1A) and researchers in relevant disciplines (Study 1B), the results of a field study (Study 2) revealed that patrons perceived themselves as more attractive at later times, regardless of the amount of alcohol consumed. Relationship status moderated this time-contingent finding, which only applied to patrons who were single. However, consistent with sexual strategies theory, this interplay was further moderated by the patrons' sex. Men rated themselves as more attractive later in the night irrespective of their relationship status, whereas this “pretty” pattern only held for single women. Taken together, the current work highlights the concept of time in forming consumers' evaluative judgments and adds to the literature on the closing time effect.

Keywords: TimeClosing time effectSex differencesAttractivenessRelationship statusSexual strategies theory

5. General discussion

As far as can be ascertained, this is the first scientific work to investigate the validity of the closing time effect with respect to self-rated attractiveness. Studies 1A–B found that lay people and scholars in relevant disciplines believe bar patrons rate their own level of attractiveness more favorably at later times of a bar's opening hours due to increased alcohol consumption. Contrary to this belief, Study 2 found time, but not alcohol intoxication, explained patrons' responses in an actual field setting. Specifically, patrons perceived themselves as more attractive at later times of a bar's opening hours, regardless of the amount of alcohol consumed or how drunk they felt. Relationship status moderated this time-contingent finding, which only applied to patrons who were single. However, consistent with sexual strategies theory (Buss & Schmitt, 1993), this interaction was further moderated by the patrons' sex. Men rated themselves as more attractive the later they responded, regardless of their relationship status, whereas this pattern held only for single women. Notably, the present article offers a novel approach of testing the closing time effect on self-rated attractiveness rather than the previous focus on opposite-sex ratings.

At a general level, the current research highlights the concept of time in forming consumers' evaluative judgments. In particular, the results suggest that merely spending time in consumption contexts associated with a time-restricted market for mating may boost certain individuals' perceptions of their own attractiveness in a way that likely facilitates approach behaviors towards potential mates and mirrors sex differences in short-term mating strategies (Buss, 1989; Buss & Schmitt, 2019; Schmitt, 2003).

While we found support for our theorizing under ecologically valid conditions, as called for by scholars in psychology and consumer research (Cialdini, 2009b; Otterbring et al., 2020), other factors cannot be explicitly ruled out as alternative accounts. It could be that patrons entering bars at later hours simply constitute more attractive crowds, according to themselves or others, but they may also represent a segment that wears fancier clothes and more alluring accessories than patrons entering at earlier hours, given that such style-based strategies seem to play a prominent role in mating contexts (Hill et al., 1987; Townsend & Levy, 1990). Furthermore, “night owls” (i.e., individuals with an eveningness disposition) are more likely to have narcissistic personality traits (Jonason et al., 2013), which is positively (and meta-analytically) related to physical attractiveness (Holtzman & Strube, 2010) as well as short-term mate appeal, including interest as a short-term romantic and sexual partner (Dufner et al., 2013). People with narcissistic tendencies also perceive themselves more positively and are particularly prone to display self-presentation tactics, such as altering their appearance to obtain social gains, wearing expensive, conspicuous clothing, and, among women, wearing makeup and showing cleavage (Back et al., 2010; Fox & Rooney, 2015; Vazire et al., 2008). Therefore, future research on the closing time effect should collect data on patrons' dress style and level of narcissism, since these factors may partially explain the findings reported herein.

A final suggestion for future research is to uncover the specific psychological process explaining our results. The present findings appear to contradict the predictions proposed by Johnco et al. (2010) stemming from mere exposure effects and commodity theory. Mere exposure effects can theoretically explain increases in opposite-sex ratings over time (Halberstadt et al., 2003). However, such exposure effects are unlikely to explain the current findings on self-rated attractiveness. Similarly, commodity theory can explain a general increase in attractiveness ratings of opposite-sex individuals as a function of time, since the scarcity of potential partners due to time restrictions may increase their perceived attractiveness (Cialdini, 2009a; Lynn, 1992), but seems implausible in explaining a rise in patrons' self-rated attractiveness. Moreover, commodity theory cannot explain why the closing time effect should be restricted to patrons who are single (Madey et al., 1996). Among the previous explanations for the closing time effect, reactance theory, as originally suggested by Pennebaker et al. (1979), appears best suited to explain why it occurs and why it might differ depending on bar patrons' relationship status. However, reactance theory cannot easily explain why men and women should be differentially influenced by the effect depending on their relationship status. As such, the theory that offers the most parsimonious explanation for precise pattern of results seems to be sexual strategies theory (Buss & Schmitt, 1993). Future research should try to replicate the current findings, while simultaneously investigating if the psychological mechanism underlying the closing time effect differs as a function of whether the attractiveness ratings relate to opposite-sex individuals or self-evaluations.