factors affecting attraction - physical attractiveness Flashcards
outline physical attractiveness as a factor affecting attraction.
how appealing we find a persons face.
e.g. researchers have found that people with symmetrical faces are rated more attractive because it is a signal of genetic fitness. people are also attracted to those with neotenous faces such as large eyes and a small nose because they trigger a caring instinct - valuable resource for females wanting to reproduce.
there is general agreement within and across cultures about what is considered physically attractive. there is an assumption that we seek to form relationships with the most attractive person available.
attractiveness is also found to be important in a relationship after marriage for at least several years - not just at the start.
outline the halo effect.
we have preconceived ideas about the personality traits attractive people have, and they are universally positive - physical attractiveness stereotype, a widely accepted view of attractive people.
for example, physically attractive people are consistently rated as kind, strong, sociable and successful compared to unattractive people.
the belief that good looking people probably have these traits makes them more attractive to us, making us behave positively toward them - a self fulfilling prophecy.
the term halo effect is used to describe how one distinguishing feature tends to have a disproportionate influence on our judgement of people attributes - e.g. personality.
outline the matching hypothesis.
the hypothesis states that people choose romantic partners who are roughly of similar attractiveness to each other - to do this we make a realistic judgement about our own value to a potential partner.
we balance the desire for the most physically attractive people against the wish to avoid being rejected by someone who is unlikely to find us physically attractive.
discuss research evidence for the halo effect as a strength of PA.
a strength of PA is evidence from research support.
researchers found that physically attractive people were rated as more politically knowledgeable than unattractive people. the halo effect was so powerful that it went on even when ptps knew these knowledgeable people had no particular expertise.
this has implications for the political process - dangers for democracy if politicians are deemed suitable for office purely because they are considered to be physically attractive by enough voters.
this effect has been found to apply in many other areas of life, confirming that PA is an important factor in the initial formation of relationships, romantic or otherwise. gives the theory value.
discuss individual differences as a limitation of PA.
one limitation of the important of PA as a factor affecting attraction is individual differences.
some people do not attach such importance to physical attractiveness.
for example, researchers asked male and female ptps to rate how much they would like a target individual based on their photograph and some biographical info. they also completed a questionnaire designed to measure sexist attitudes and behaviours.
they found that the ptps who scored high on scale were more influenced by the PA of the target when making their judgement of likeability. low scorers were less sensitive to this influence.
this shows that the effects of PA can be moderated by other factors, and so challenges the notion that is a significant consideration in relationship formation for all partners.
discuss research support for the matching hypothesis as a strength of PA.
one strength of PA is evidence from research support for the matching hypothesis.
original research which provides some support for the MH was by Walster (1966).
During the intervals at a computer dance party, students were asked whether they found their partner attractive and whether they would like to go on a second date with them. Contrary to the matching hypothesis’ predictions, students expressed higher appreciation of their partner if the partner was attractive, regardless of their own level of attractiveness.
However, at a 6 month follow up after the study, participants were more likely to have seen their partner again if they were of similar attractiveness levels, which does support the predictions of the hypothesis.
Therefore, this might suggest that although we value attractive people more highly, realistically we are more likely to form relationships with those who match us in terms of desirability - gives support for matching hypothesis and thus gives value to the theory of PA as a factor.
outline how evolutionary theory can explain why PA is an important factor in attraction.
Evolutionary theory can explain why physical attractiveness is such an important aspect of being attracted to a partner.
an example is the idea that people with symmetrical faces are more often viewed as more attractive because it is a sign of health and genetic fitness.
This is adaptive because it means that partners are more likely to be fertile and any offspring are more likely to survive.
This would explain why physical attractiveness has evolved to be such an important aspect of partner preference.
discuss research supporting the importance of PA as an aspect of the evolutionary explanation as a strength of PA.
A strength PA is that there is research supporting the importance of physical attraction as an aspect of evolutionary explanations of partner preference.
One example is Buss’ findings that men value physical attractiveness more highly than women.
Cunningham et al. (1995) who found that white, Asian and Hispanic males, despite being from different cultures, rated females with prominent cheekbones, small noses and large eyes as highly attractive.
This universality of findings suggests that using attractiveness as a decisive factor in choosing a partner might be a genetically reproduced mechanism, aiding sexual selection. This gives support to the nature side of nature-nurture debate as it shows that human behaviour is mainly a result of biological rather than environmental influences and that preference for physically attractive partners is likely to be evolutionary.
HOWEVER -
this may also mean that there are gender differences in how important physical attractiveness is to different people, because in Buss’ study, although men rated physical attractiveness as important in a partner, women valued resources more as these can provide more evolutionary advantage for mothers and offspring.
Therefore, physical attractiveness may be beta biased as an explanation for attraction as there may be gender differences in preferences that are often overlooked, limiting its value.
