How much do friend groups cluster around levels of attractiveness? As in; does any given friend group tend to have more unattractive or attractive people, but not both? Does this vary depending on type of friend group (chosen vs assigned)? Has anybody done a study?
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I haven’t yet figured out a rhyme/reason to it, but yes. It’s less prevalent in young groups (like middle school) but I noticed as I’ve aged that people who “look the same tier” tended to become closer to each other & were more likely to lose touch with friends from lower “tiers”
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Of unassigned friend groups, this is an extremely strong effect
One great thing about having worked in the restaurant industry for ~5 years is you see how deep this caste system really goes
I worked with a waiter who was like, "check out the high castes at table 34"
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There is some data on how initial attractiveness perception impacts the way we treat other people (i think it boiled down to "unless we feel that makes them a competitor, the more attractive people get a significant bonus").
No link though, just a thing I read about years ago.
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Most friend groups are centered around a particular interest. Individuals that have certain interests usually have certain characteristics.
People that like D&D are nerdy, nerdy people tended to not be particularly attractive. (until nerdery achieved mainstream.)
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They cluster a lot because physical attractiveness is an excellent proxy for social class.
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