[in Japanese]

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The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a widespread practice of wearing masks, which has affected cosmetic behavior. This may reduce the psychological effects of cosmetics, which, in turn, may affect the life satisfaction. The present study was conducted to test this assumption. The participants were 579 women in their 20s to 60s. Many of them were found to have changed their make-up behavior when they wear masks, either partially or completely reducing their make-up use. Additionally, it was confirmed that the restriction of make-up use decreased the psychological effects of make-up, which engendered a decrease in satisfaction from make-up and, ultimately, a decrease in life satisfaction. The results suggest a close relationship between cosmetics and social life.

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Change in appearance is a significant stress factor experienced by postpartum women. This study focused on postpartum cosmetic behavior. Objective 1 was to understand the condition of postpartum cosmetic behavior. Objective 2 focused on understanding the relationship between cosmetic behavior and mental health. The participants were 206 multiparous women in their 20s to 40s who had given birth in the past year. Result 1 showed that the time spent on cosmetic behavior was significantly reduced after childbirth. Moreover, the content of cosmetic behavior was simplified after childbirth. Results 2 showed that those who were satisfied with the cosmetic behavior had a higher self-affirmation, which reduced feeling down.

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As demonstrated in previous studies, the primary motivation of college students to wear masks during COVID-19 pandemic was infection prevention and societal conformity. In this research, we predicted that there is also a “sense of security from hiding one’s face” and typified motiva-tions for wearing masks. Subsequently, the degree of fear concerning negative evaluation and the inclination toward wearing masks were compared in each situation among the clusters of motiva-tions. Altogether, three clusters were estimated from the scoring patterns of motivations. The find-ings suggest that the motivation was to gain a sense of security from hiding one’s face, in addition to infection prevention of infection and conformity, as pointed out in previous studies. However, 4 of the 12 situations showed a significant frequency bias during the analysis of the relationship between mask-wearing behavior and motivation; hence, the possibility of other factors in predict-ing mask-wearing behavior cannot be ruled out.

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Even in countries where tattoos are becoming more popular, hesitation toward accepting tattooing of not only oneself but others still exists. This is true for Japan, as various negative opinions about tattooing prevail among Japanese people. However, it is still unclear what kind of opinions tend to be linked to these feelings. This study performed a factor analysis on negative opinions about tattooing and obtained three factors: aversion to people, social disadvantage, and risk. Next, we performed a multiple regression analysis of the magnitude of the hesitation as a function of the three factors. The results showed that the social disadvantage factor was significant when respondents assumed they would be getting a tattoo and the aversion to people factor was important when they assumed others would be getting one. These findings suggest that factors those are linked to the hesitation toward tattooing of self and others specifically vary.

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Experiments were conducted to clarify the inferred personality from the average face of Japanese women with hair and makeup and the relationship between personality and attractiveness. The results of the experiments indicated that faces with standard, and natural colors were estimated as having high agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and interpersonal attractiveness. In contrast, faces with non-standard colors were estimated as having high extraversion and openness but low interpersonal attractiveness. The validity of the similarity, complementarity, personal desirability, and social desirability theories of personality was examined for the interpersonal attractiveness of faces with hair and makeup applied. The personal desirability and social desirability theories were supported for agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability, although none of the theories were supported for extraversion and openness.

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As a result of the spread of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a number of problems related to people's appearance have emerged, including Zoom dysmorphia. As online video calls on platforms such as Zoom become commonplace, psychological problems pertaining to selective attention to one's own appearance-related defects and distorted self-perception have surfaced. In this study, I reviewed previous research on appearance problems arising due to the with/after Corona era, and subsequently discussed the new psychological challenges.

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This study examined the concerns regarding appearance for female students from elementary through high school through a secondary data analysis. It was found that female students’ concerns about their appearance increases as they mature and leads to dieting along with negative effects on physical and mental health.

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The present study examined the incentive for adhering to clothing norms developed in class. The study recruited 116 high school students who wear casual clothes to school to answer a questionnaire about clothing norms. The result of regression analysis indicated that students who considered themselves stylish or who liked their class frequently wore clothes similar to those of their classmates. Interestingly, the less stylish the students considered their class, the more frequently they adhered to these norms.

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The experiment was conducted to examine the radiating beauty effect. Four experimental conditions were set up, combining headshots of stimulus persons. The conditions were as follows: beautiful wife and beautiful husband (Condition 1), beautiful wife and ordinarily attractive husband (Condition 2), ordinarily attractive wife and beautiful husband (Condition 3), and ordinarily attractive wife and ordinarily attractive husband (Condition 4). The subjects were shown the stimulus persons’ headshots and their impressions of wives and husbands were then evaluated. In Condition 2, the attribute relevant to the husband's socioeconomic status was evaluated highly. In Condition 3, the wife's personality was evaluated as her most desirable attribute. The radiating beauty effect rose with different attributes in wives and husbands, whereas issues related to beauty stereotypes did not occur.

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