Factors Affecting The Attraction In Romantic Relationships: physical attractiveness Flashcards
Factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships
Psychologists have identified several factors that influence whether or not and how much we are attracted to a potential romantic partner
Physical attractiveness
An important factor in the formation of romantic relationships, the one feature of an individual we notice and make a judgement on as soon as we meet them
Psychical attractiveness is a cue to a women’s health and hence her….
Fertility and reproductive value
A symmetrical face is viewed as
Attractive to both sexes
People are also attracted to baby faces
Large eyes, delicate chin, small nose. These trigger a protective or caring instinct
The matching hypothesis Walster
Make so predictions about choosing a romantic partner
- We aspire to form a relationship with someone who has a high level of social desirability eg( physical attractiveness, wealth intelligence and confidence)
- However our options may be limited to our own social desirability so we are likely to…
Form a relationship with someone who has approximately the same level of social desirability as ourselves, we choose a partner who is matched to ourselves (primarily in terms of attractiveness)
Compromise
What we want and what we think we can get
Desirability and perceived possibility of attainment
Procedure of Walters study
Computer dance for students of Uni of Minnesota, 177 males and 170 females randomly selected
4 Student accomplices secretly rated
Ppts completed lengthy questionnaire told data gathered would be used to allocate ideal partner when it was done completely randomly
During intermission ppts asked to complete questionnaire with follow up distributed six months after
Walster contradicting matching hypothesis
Ppts rated highly attracted were more likely to be asked out again even by partners who had low ratings
Walster supporting the matching hypothesis
Ppts who were still seeing each other two months later had the most similar attractiveness rating
Murstein supporting evidence for the matching hypothesis
Asked judges to rate photographs of people
Some engaged couples, other randomly paired up- judges ‘blind’ did not know who was who
Those engaged for similar attractiveness ratings, their average ratings significantly more similar than those who were not couples
Adds validity to that we seek out and form relationships with those matched to us in terms of attractiveness
Taylor evidence that casts doubt on value of matching hypothesis
Found no evidence that daters decisions driven by a similarity between their own and potential partners physical attractiveness
Instead they found overall preference for the attractive partners
Demonstrates importance of physical attractiveness but suggests in the initial stages of attraction we aim for someone more attractive than our selves
Sprecher and Hatfield suggested why research fails to find evidence on matching in terms of physical attractiveness
Person may compensate for late of physical attractiveness with other desirable qualities such as humour and success- complex matching.
In this way people are able to attract partners more attractive than themselves by offering compensatory assets
Despite inconsistencies in evidence, research from Cunningham show that what is considered physically attractive is consistent across cultures
Female features: large eyes, prominent cheekbones, small nose and high eyebrows were rated highly attractive by white, Asian and Hispanic males
Demonstrates that views of what constitutes as physical attractiveness largely universal across both western and non western cultures
