Core Focus

This study uses network science to explore the semantic networks of beauty and wellness, examining how their conceptualizations vary by age cohort (GenZ, Millennials, GenX, Baby Boomers) and sex, and their inherent semantic connections. Data is drawn from free-association responses to 47 beauty/wellness-related cue words (selected via word2vec) from US native English speakers, with semantic networks measured by clustering coefficient (CC), average shortest path length (ASPL), and modularity (Q).

Key Semantic Associations (Stable Across Groups)

• Beauty is consistently linked to: Elegance, Feminine, Gorgeous, Lovely, Sexy, Stylish

• Wellness is consistently linked to: Aerobics, Fitness, Health, Holistic, Lifestyle, Medical, Nutrition, Thrive

Age Cohort Differences

Older generations (notably Baby Boomers) exhibit less connected, more segregated semantic networks (lower CC, higher ASPL and Q) than younger cohorts. The semantic neighborhoods of beauty and wellness grow more distinct with age, and the Baby Boomer network shows the narrowest, most nuanced dissection of the two concepts. Additionally, the similarity between data-driven semantic communities and corpus-based categories decreases with age.

Sex Differences

• Women have more segregated, organized beauty/wellness networks (lower CC, higher ASPL and Q); their networks include a small "bridge community" (Exotic, Uniqueness, Individuality) linking beauty and wellness.

• Men’s networks are less structured, with larger, more general semantic neighborhoods for both concepts.

• A key qualitative difference: Women associate Education with Beauty, while men associate Talent with Wellness.

Critical Observations on Beauty + Wellness

The corpus-derived Beauty + Wellness category does not act as a true conceptual bridge; its terms align far more closely with Beauty and cluster in just 2–3 semantic communities, unlike wellness terms which disperse across more communities.

Conclusions

Beauty and wellness are conceptually separable with stable core semantic meanings across age and sex, but aging and sex shape nuanced associative patterns—older adults and women show more differentiated conceptualization of the two concepts. Network science provides a quantitative, empirical approach to studying abstract aesthetic/wellness concepts, complementing philosophical conceptual analysis.

Limitations

The study is limited by a cross-sectional design (unable to distinguish cohort vs. lifespan effects), a small 47-node semantic network, a US-only/English-speaking sample, unbalanced sex distribution across age cohorts, and potential biases in word2vec’s corpus-based cue word selection. Corpus-based methods also show limitations in capturing human semantic associations of abstract concepts.