The psychology of appearance: why health psychologists should “do looks”
Societal interest in appearance has a long history, 
but has never been more prevalent than now. Messages 
associating physical attractiveness with success and 
happiness are unremitting; researchers and 
commentators consider that extensive, and for a 
proportion of the population, debilitating levels of 
appearance concerns are considered normative. In this 
article I will offer a brief history of appearance research 
as a context for the current state of play in this area, 
explore reasons why the topic of appearance remains 
peripheral at best for most health psychologists, and 
offer arguments for why it should become more central.