Factors affecting attraction - Physical attractiveness and matching hypothesis Flashcards
what is physical attractiveness??
From an evolutionary perspective, physical attractiveness is seen as genetic superiority.
what do women see in physical attractiveness??
Women seek signs of wealth, resources, security and strength in men
what do men see in physical attractiveness??
men look for signs of fertility in women. An hourglass figure is ideal (0.7 HWR).
where may the ideals of physical attractiveness differ?
There are differences across cultures as to what is considered attractive:
E.g., in Polynesian islands and many parts of Africa, a bigger woman is considered attractive.
How does the symmetrical face and neotenous theories explain physical attractiveness??
- symmetrical face= More attractive as it’s a sign of good genes (Shackelford and Larsen)
- Neotenous faces (baby face)
Widely separated large eyes, small chin and nose
Trigger a caring instinct
what is the halo effect??
If something looks good on the outside, we assume all characteristics are good!
Therefore, if someone is physically attractive, we are more likely to assume the rest of their traits will be positive, so are more likely to give them a chance and pursue a relationship with them.
what is the matching hypothesis?
We are more likely to be attracted to people who are of similar physical attractiveness to ourselves according to the Matching Hypothesis!
This means we need to have a realistic judgement of how attractive we are in the first instance
Attempting to ‘punch above your weight’ carries the increased risk of rejection that could damage self esteem
If one partner is more attractive that the other there is likely to be fears that partner will leave for more attractive partners
Implies that our choice of partner is a compromise.
why is physical attractiveness important?
evolutionary explanations of attractiveness state that traits associated with attractiveness act as indications of good genetic information and health, by choosing an attractive partner you are ensuring a healthy partner and child.
Perceived health is important for two reasons: firstly, that partner is going to be physically able to bear children or provide for the family; it also mans that there is a good chance that the genes that they carry will produce healthy offspring
what are some strengths of physical attractiveness??
- The matching hypothesis as a factor that affects attraction has been supported by research evidence. Murstein (1972) Asked P’s to judge the attractiveness of real couples and those just put together that were ‘fake couples’ in photographs. He found that ratings of couples by judges of attractiveness of ‘real couple’ photos were more close in level of attractiveness than the attractiveness ratings of photos of ‘fake couples’.
This supports the idea that couples of the same level of attractiveness do choose to be together and can be seen to be equally attractive as predicted by the matching hypothesis. This adds to the credibility of the matching hypothesis. - There is further research evidence to support the claims of the Halo effect.
Gunnell & Ceci (2010) found that physically less attractive people were 22% more likely to be convicted in court and get prison sentences that were (on average) 22 months longer than physically attractive people.
This supports the claim that people who are deemed to be attractive tend to benefit from favourable perceptions from society and therefore this research adds credibility to the theory. - One of the positives of the claims that physical attractiveness seems to be an important factor in forming relationships, can be supported by cross cultural research
For example, Cunningham et al (1995) 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 implies that using attractiveness is a decisive factor in choosing a partner so could be a genetically driven to support sexual selection so this is considered a universal concept.
what are some negative evaluations of physical attractiveness??
- However there is research evidence that questions the validity of the matching hypothesis
Walster et al set up a study where they invited 752 first-year students to attend a dance party. They were randomly matched to a partner; however, when students were picking up their tickets, they were secretly judged by a panel in terms of attractiveness. During the intervals at the dance party, and 4 to 6 months later, students were asked whether they found their partner attractive and whether they would like to go on a second date with them. It was found that the more attractive students were favoured as dates over the less attractive students, and physical attractiveness was found to be the most important factor, over intelligence and personality.
Contrary to the matching hypothesis predictions, students expressed higher appreciation of their partner if the partner was more attractive, regardless of their own level of attractiveness so did not support the matching hypothesis. - However, it could be argued that a lot of the research in this field tends to use subjective measurements of attractiveness when matching participants attractiveness
For example, in Walster’s study, 4 judges were used to rate attractiveness which is very subjective ,as what one person rates as attractive may be very different for someone else.
Therefore, it could be argued that there is lack of a scientific rigor in this field and the measurements of the participant’s attractiveness lacks any real validity. - One problem with the matching hypothesis is that it may be suffering from a beta-bias.
This is because it assumes that men and women are very similar in their view of the importance of physical attractiveness. However research by Meltzer et al. (2014) found that men rate their long-term relationships more satisfying if their partner is physically attractive, while for women their partner’s attractiveness didn’t have a significant impact on relationship satisfaction.
This implies that there are significant gender differences in how important appearance is for attraction.
