Factors affecting attraction: physical attractiveness Flashcards
What is an explanation of why physical attractiveness is important?
Sexual selection- Shackelford and Larsen found people with symmetrical faces may be more attractive as its a sign of genetic fitness, also those with neotenous features (large eyes, small nose) are seen as more attractive as they trigger caring and protective instinct
the halo effect
Dion et al found that physically attractive people are consistently rated as kind, strong and sociable compared to unattractive people. We believe they have these characteristics which makes them even more attractive to us, so we behave positively towards them (self-fulfilling prophecy). Halo effect means their attractiveness has a disproportionate influence on our judgements of the persons other attributes.
Research on the matching hypothesis
The matching hypothesis (Walster and Walster 1969) suggests we look for partners who are similar to ourselves in terms of physical attractiveness instead of choosing the most appealing people.
Walster et al designed a study to test this called ‘The computer dance’
walster and walster procedures
male and female students were invited to a dance. They were rated for physical attractiveness by objective observers at the start and completed a questionnaire about themselves. They were told that the data would be used by a computer to decide their partner for the evening. But in fact they were paired up randomly.
walster and walster findings
the hypothesis was not supported. The most liked partners were also the most physically attractive rather than taking their own level of attractiveness into account. However, Berscheid et al replicated the study but this time each participant was able to select their partner from people of varying degrees of attractiveness. This time participants tended to choose partners who matched them in physical attractiveness.
walster and walster conclusions
we tend to seek and choose partners whose attractiveness matches our own. Therefore choice of partner is a compromise – we risk rejection in selecting the most attractive people available so we settle for those who are in our league physically
Evaluation of physical attractiveness (brief)
strength - research support, palmer + peterson
strength - support for evolutionary processes
weakness - not supported by real world research, however feingold meta-analysis
strengths of physical attractiveness
there is research support for the halo effect. Palmer and Peterson found that physically attractive people were rated as more politically knowledgeable and competent than unattractive people. This halo effect was so powerful that it persisted even when participants knew that these ‘knowledgeable’ people had no particular expertise. This finding has implications for the political process as it suggests there are dangers for democracy if politicians are judged as suitable for office just because they are considered physically attractive by enough voters.
the role of physical attractiveness is research support for evolutionary processes. Cunningham et al found that women who had features of large eyes, prominent cheekbones, small nose and high eyebrows were rated as highly attractive by white, Hispanic and Asian men. The researchers concluded that what is considered physically attractive is consistent across different societies. Attractive features (symmetry) are a sign of genetic fitness and therefore perpetuated similarly in all cultures (sexual selection). Therefore the importance of physical attractiveness makes sense at an evolutionary level.
weakness of physical attractiveness
the matching hypothesis is not supported by real-world research into dating. Taylor et al studied the activity logs of an online dating site. This was a real-world test of the matching hypothesis because it measured actual date choices and not merely preferences. The researchers found that online daters sought meetings with potential partners who were more physically attractive than them. The undermines the validity of the matching hypothesis because it contradicts the central prediction about matching attractiveness. However, choosing individuals for dating could be considered a different situation from selecting a partner for a romantic relationship. Feingold carried out a meta-analysis of 17 studies and found a significant correlation in ratings of physical attractiveness between romantic partners. Therefore there is support for the matching hypothesis from studies of real-world established romantic partners.
