The cheerleader effect is the proposed tendency for people to look more attractive when seen in a group than alone, by roughly 1.5 to 2 percent. Researchers Drew Walker and Edward Vul first reported it in 2013. Explanations draw on evolutionary psychology, where people judge attractiveness partly by signs of health and by how average a face looks, and averaging faces together tends to produce a more typical, appealing look. Studies have found the effect across different presentation times and group sizes, and it has also appeared with body images, not just faces.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.