A new research study has recently suggested that wearing makeup makes women feel smarter. It even helps them to enhance their confidence.
The researchers from the University of Chieti, Italy and the Harvard Medical School, USA carried out the research project related to wearing makeup. The team did their research study among the 186 female students. Notably, they were all undergraduate students, and the research team tried to know the "lipstick effect " among them.
This "lipstick effect" is a common psychological phenomenon that boosts the confidence of a woman when she wears makeup and feels physically more attractive. It helps women to have the feelings of self-esteem, personality, and attitude. An important thing is a boost or improvement in the self-esteem helps to boost the cognitive abilities, the Huffington Post reported.
Past research studies have indicated that positive emotions help in the improvement of academic performance. The present study related to wearing makeup has tried to see whether the positive boost in the self-esteem could bring the similar effect or not. The researchers divided the undergraduate students into several groups. The students had to complete a set of tests that include multiple choice questions from a general psychology textbook.
The students had to answer those questions. Before the test, the research team asked students of a specific group to apply makeup. Students of another group heard the "positive music excerpt" and the last group colored a sketch of one human face. The research team carried out the test to explore the effects of wearing makeup.
It was believed by the research team that students wearing makeup would perform much better than students of the other groups. The researchers thought that these students would get the highest boost in their positive feelings. The outcomes of the tests revealed that the students who heard the music had the good results on the cognitive performance.
But, the students wearing makeup performed much better than the students who heard the positive music. The findings are available in the popular journal Cogent Psychology. The researchers stated that it was not only the makeup that helped to bring better test results, but the findings suggested some new facts.
Bondi Beauty reported that the researchers asked the participants after the test to do a self-report on how beautiful they actually felt. Participants wearing makeup reported higher perception about beauty compared to other participants. This indicates that wearing makeup could provide a better sense about self-esteem that may bring positive effects on the cognitive performance of an individual.
Through the findings, it is clear that wearing makeup enhances the self-esteem that could interact with the cognition. The researchers are now aiming for further research. They must try to see if makeup brings long lasting effects on the cognitive performance.
