The current research focuses on two salient appearance characteristics – age and attractiveness – and investigates the motivational inferences people make about others who vary in age and attractiveness. Building on motivational change over the life span and the inferences about others’ motivations, this research suggests that observers perceive more intrinsic motivation from older (vs. younger) targets. In addition, the present research integrates another important characteristic of appearance – attractiveness, and finds that such enhanced inferences of intrinsic motivation and subsequent positive consequences for older people occur only for attractive (vs. unattractive) targets. Three studies showed convergent evidence for the predictions and investigated critical downstream implicati...[ Read more ]

The current research focuses on two salient appearance characteristics – age and attractiveness – and investigates the motivational inferences people make about others who vary in age and attractiveness. Building on motivational change over the life span and the inferences about others’ motivations, this research suggests that observers perceive more intrinsic motivation from older (vs. younger) targets. In addition, the present research integrates another important characteristic of appearance – attractiveness, and finds that such enhanced inferences of intrinsic motivation and subsequent positive consequences for older people occur only for attractive (vs. unattractive) targets. Three studies showed convergent evidence for the predictions and investigated critical downstream implications of the inferred intrinsic motivation, providing valuable insights for a more inclusive marketing environment.