Perception About the Physical Beauty of Students in the Area of Exact and Technological

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify elements that characterize the social representations of physical beauty among students. Participants included 120 undergraduate students of both sexes. Data collection employed a semi-directive interview, complemented by sample characterization questions. The interviews were organized in a corpus and submitted to a Hierarchical Descending Classification, with the aid of IRaMuTeQ software. Through a dimensional approach, it was found that the participants cite mass media and group relations as the main sources of their information and values regarding beauty. The imaginary dimension of beauty was anchored in elements connected to success in social relations and to the pair health and well-being, whereas the attitudinal dimension associated beauty to secondary gains, involving both positive and negative positions.

Keywords

• beleza física
• representações sociais
• estudantes