From the Cook Islands to Poland, people everywhere strive to look their best—but the reasons behind these efforts are not always the same. A new study published in Evolution and Human Behavior explores the diverse motives for enhancing physical attractiveness across four different societies. The research highlights both universal trends and the culturally unique factors driving these behaviors. The new study was led by Marta Kowal, a postdoctoral researcher at the IDN Being Human Lab at the University of Wrocław. The researchers aimed to understand why people across different cultures spend ti…