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From Malaika Arora to Taylor Swift, #SquadGoals make us look more attractive

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Radhika Bhalla
Radhika BhallaSep 10, 2016 | 11:46

From Malaika Arora to Taylor Swift, #SquadGoals make us look more attractive

When Malaika Arora Khan posted the image of her walking with her sister Amrita Arora, and duo Karisma and Kareena Kapoor Khan on Instagram a week ago, one couldn’t help but sit up and take notice.

Four Indian divas had decided to join hands, their good looks and enviable wardrobes to create a snapshot of the power that girl groups have over the larger populace (that often suffer from an ailing wardrobe and tedious social life).

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This is one of those rare occasions that desi celebrity actresses have got together with their equally glamourous friends on a social platform to send across a message of collaboration over competition.

"Put ur best foot forward… haute steppers" Malaika’s caption said, while Karisma complimented the same image with hashtags like "#friends", "#girlietime", "#sisterhood" and "#funtimes" on her social media page.

Beyond impressive — #SquadGoals have reached new levels, the #sisterhood is exploding with unparallel joy, and imaginary sorority goddesses are beaming with pride from heaven, sipping on champagne and getting glitter pedicures done.

The women have combined their hotness-quotient and amplified it by bringing their "forces" together — something like Captain Planet — in the face of waning careers and younger divas stealing the spotlight. They collectively did what none of them could have done individually, even though they are all striving to achieve it.

Yet the success of the picture lies in a concept known as the "cheerleader effect" — a study which states that those in groups are perceived as being more attractive that those viewed alone.

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People in groups, like cheerleaders, are valued as being more eye-catching due to a cognitive bias. (Photo: Instagram)

The research by Drew Walker and Edward Vul at the University of California found out that people in groups, like cheerleaders, are valued as being more eye-catching due to a cognitive bias that overlooks individual idiosyncracies in favour of the average group face.

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Possible explanations for this phenomenon include selective attention on more attractive group members, and the human mind being able to better understand groups or "the whole" as opposed to independent parts.

Which is probably why the mean girls, sorority sisters and mommy cliques of the world manage to draw such attention and awe, across the world.

Taylor Swift used the same trick a few years ago to elevate her image, when she literally became a professional BFF to some of the world’s sexiest female models and musicians. Swift boasts a large posse of celeb friends like Karlie Kloss, Gigi Hadid, Selena Gomez, Kendall Jenner, Cara Delevigne, Ellie Goulding and Lorde, to name a few.

The high-energy, fun-filled images on all their social media accounts are enough to make you want to crawl under your blanket and not come out for a week because of major FOMO.

Yet Swift has grown from strength to strength, proving that she is not just a multi-millionaire musician, but also a great friend, whose besties just happen to be the most beautiful people in the world currently. As a result, she is perceived as being on average as beautiful as them, and they must be as goofy and/or talented as her. Things even out on the whole, and there is usually some talk of birds and feathers.

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To be honest, every time a group of strong-minded women assemble and look like they’re having the time of their lives, they generate an exalted aura around them. Add to that confidence, success and drive, and that’s a win-win situation for every diva, especially on Instagram.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)

Last updated: April 22, 2018 | 21:06
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