halo effect and matching hypothesis: factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships

Question 1

halo effect

Answer 1

describes how physical attractiveness tends to have a disproportionate effect on our judgements of a person’s other attributes such as personality

argued that people who are seen as highly physically attractive are also presumed to have positive psychological characteristics e.g. people who are good looking are assumed to be honest and kind
- those seen as less attractive are presumed to have less positive psychological traits

in this way we are likely to choose a partner who is the most physically attractive due to our assumption that they will have positive psychological characteristics

Question 2

matching hypothesis

Answer 2

walster 1966

individuals seek partners whose physical attractiveness matches their own

as such we compromise because selecting a partner who is more attractive than us may cause anxiety as we may think we are likely to be rejected
-selecting a less attractive partner may lower our self-esteem

therefore selecting a partner whose physical attractiveness matches our own increases the chance of a successful relationship

Question 3

strength 1

Answer 3

strong evidence for the role of physical attraction as a factor in a relationship comes from

Dion (1972)

who found that, people rated as physically attractive were consistently rated as kind, strong, sociable and successful compared to those rated as unattractive

this shows that, as the halo effect predicts, we judge those seen as most attractive as having the most positive psychological characteristics

Question 4

strength 2

Answer 4

evidence for the role of physical attraction as a factor in relationships comes from

walster and walster (1969)

who found that, in their computer dance study of 400 us students, those partners who rated each other to be of similar physical attractiveness liked each other more and were more likely to see each other again than those of differing physical attractiveness

this shows that, couples who perceive themselves to be of similar attractiveness are more satisfied in their relationship, explaining why we may choose our partner based on having a similar level of attraction to us

Question 5

strength 3

Answer 5

evidence for the matching hypothesis comes from

murstein (1972)

asked ppts to rank physical attractiveness of real and fake couples. real couples were more likely to be judged at similar level of attractiveness

this suggests physical attractiveness may be important in the formation of a relationship

Question 6

limit 1

Answer 6

there is evidence that the halo effect is more influential that matching hypothesis from

taylor, who found that

online daters were likely to select a potential partner who was more attractive than themselves

this suggests that when dating, we are more likely to select a partner who we perceive as more attractive, not of equal attractiveness to ourselves as the matching hypothesis predicts

Question 7

limit 2

Answer 7

the role of physical attraction in relationships can be criticised for being Eurocentric

which is when a theory inappropriately judges behaviour from European or North American cultural norms

this is because the matching hypothesis assumes that couples in all cultures try to select a partner who is at least as attractive as they are

however, in this way, explanations that focus on physical attraction are a limited explanation of relationships across different cultures