AUTHOR=Kenett Yoed N. , Ungar Lyle , Chatterjee Anjan 

TITLE=Beauty and Wellness in the Semantic Memory of the Beholder

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.696507

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.696507

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>Beauty and wellness are terms used often in common parlance, however their meaning and relation to each other is unclear. To probe their meaning, we applied network science methods to estimate and compare the semantic networks associated with beauty and wellness in different age generation cohorts (Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers) and in women and men. These mappings were achieved by estimating group-based semantic networks from free association responses to a list of 47 words, either related to <italic>Beauty</italic>, <italic>Wellness</italic>, or <italic>Beauty</italic> + <italic>Wellness</italic>. <italic>Beauty</italic> was consistently related to <italic>Elegance</italic>, <italic>Feminine</italic>, <italic>Gorgeous</italic>, <italic>Lovely</italic>, <italic>Sexy</italic>, and <italic>Stylish</italic>. <italic>Wellness</italic> was consistently related <italic>Aerobics</italic>, <italic>Fitness</italic>, <italic>Health</italic>, <italic>Holistic</italic>, <italic>Lifestyle</italic>, <italic>Medical</italic>, <italic>Nutrition</italic>, and <italic>Thrive</italic>. In addition, older cohorts had semantic networks that were less connected and more segregated from each other. Finally, we found that women compared to men had more segregated and organized concepts of <italic>Beauty</italic> and <italic>Wellness</italic>. In contemporary societies that are pre-occupied by the pursuit of beauty and a healthy lifestyle, our findings shed novel light on how people think about beauty and wellness and how they are related across different age generations and by sex.</p>