I'm confused about how these data are objective. The researchers were asked to rate the study’s subjects (men and women from different races) according to how attractive they found them (1=very unattractive, 2= unattractive, 3=about average, 4=attractive, 5=very attractive). It turns out the evidence is just the opinions of a group of researchers who worked for a large study called Add Health. Well, by Kanazawa's standards then, his recent article is most certainly his problem (as well as a problem for Psychology Today and the academic institutions he is affiliated with - the London School of Economics and London's Birckbeck College).įirst, let's look at the data Kanazawa uses, which allegedly shows "objectively" that black women are less attractive than non-black women. If what I say offends you, it is your problem." Now, in the tagline to his Psychology Today blog - the Scientific Fundamentalist - Kanazawa warns, "If what I say is wrong (because it is illogical or lacks credible scientific evidence), then it is my problem. He suggests that black people have more testosterone than other races, and so possess "more masculine features." He states too that women are "objectively" more attractive than men, so if black women have more masculine features, this explains why they are rated less attractive.įollowing outraged responses, Psychology Today changed the article's title to "Why Are Black Women Rated Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women?" and then took it down altogether, although you can still read the "study" in its entirety here. Kanazawa accepts this data and then tries to explain why it is the case. His argument is that there is a set of data, which shows black women to be "objectively" less attractive than white, Asian or Native American women, but that the same data does not find black men less attractive than men of other races. Satoshi Kanazawa's piece: "Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women?" The title of evolutionary psychologist Dr. An article posted online on Monday by Psychology Today provoked controversy and cries of racism.