Lecture 4: Attraction and Partner Selection Part 1 Flashcards
proximity
- Closeness/nearness
- A basic, powerful factor that drives liking
- We’re more likely to meet, get to know, and form a relationship with someone we see regularly, live, or work with
Westgate housing study method
- Married MIT students were assigned to one of 17 buildings in a housing complex randomly
- Virtually no one knew anyone beforehand
Westgate housing study findings
- The people living next door were twice as likely to become friends than those living 2 doors down
- This trend continued as people got further away
- Those living next to stairwells made more friends with people upstairs
- Those living next to high-traffic areas (ex. Laundry rooms, mailboxes), and/or those who had windows facing a common courtyard made more friends
functional distance
the likelihood of coming into contact with other people due to location or features of architectural design
mere exposure effect
we tend to like people and things more after we have been repeatedly exposed to them and they become more familiar to us
mere exposure effect study
- College-age female confederates attended a class 0, 5, 10, or 15 times during a semester
- At the end of the semester, students were asked to evaluate photos of each confederate
- The more often the confederate attended class, the more positively she was rated
possible underlying mechanisms of the mere exposure effect
perceptual fluency explanation & classical conditioning
perceptual fluency explanation for the mere exposure effect
- It’s easier to process information about familiar stimuli (greater fluency)
- Pleasant feelings are associated with more fluent processing mistaken for liking
classical conditioning explanation for the mere exposure effect
- Encounters with novel stimuli put us on our guard
- Repeated exposure to a stimulus without any negative consequences signals that the stimulus is safe and non-threatening
- The comfortable feeling of safety associated with the stimulus after multiple exposures renders it more pleasant
- There is some evidence that anxiety impedes the mere exposure effect
caveat of the mere exposure effect
the mere exposure effect will not occur for stimuli that are initially disliked
physical attractiveness in research
Has received a large amount of research attention
is beauty in the eye of the beholder?
- There is some disagreement on whether a given photo is attractive
- Idiosyncratic preferences come into play when judging individuals
- Certain standards of beauty differ across cultures & time and we may not always agree on a specific individual’s attractiveness
- There is a broad consensus about the general features that are considered attractive
evidence for innateness of physical attractiveness
- Evidence across different cultural groups
- Newborn infants share adults’ preferences
facial symmetry
- Bilateral (two-sided) symmetry contributes to attractiveness
- This is true of other species as well
two possible explanations for facial symmetry
perceptual fluency and evolutionary explanations
perceptual fluency explanation for facial symmetry
average and more symmetrical faces are easier to process, and ease of processing is associated with feelings of pleasantness
evolutionary explanation for facial symmetry
- facial symmetry is an indicator of reproductive fitness
- Pronounced asymmetry may be indicative of issues during prenatal development
- Declining health in macaques is associated with declines in facial symmetry
- There is some evidence that facial symmetry is linked to better health in humans
caveats of facial symmetry
- Subtle asymmetries do not detract from attractiveness
- Perfect symmetry may be less attractive
- May exaggerate imbalances or imperfections in the face
- Balance or “averageness” of features may be more important
the averageness effect
- Faces that are average are seen as more attractive
- They tend to perceive a composite image of many faces “averaged” together as more attractive than the individual faces of which the composite is compromised
caveat of the averageness effect
Our liking for symmetry/averageness may not trump our liking for familiarity
caveat of the averageness effect study
- Participants from New Zealand and the Netherlands
- Celebrity faces from New Zealand and the Netherlands
- Participants showed a typical preference for averageness only for morphed faces of celebrities from the foreign country
how does the preference for proximity work?
We have an increased opportunity to interact with people who live close to us
desired female facial features
- Cross-cultural preference for baby-faced features (large eyes, small nose, small chin, full lips)
- Combined with signs of maturity (high, prominent cheekbones, thick hair)
desired male facial features
- There is less of a cross-cultural consensus for male features
- Preference for wide smile & broad jaw and forehead
- But, softer features are attractive too (conveys warmth & friendliness)
desired female body features
- Waist-to-hip ratio: .70
- Signal of fertility, better physical health
desired male body features
- Waist-to-hip ratio: .90
- Also linked to better physical health
- Shoulder-to-hip ratio: 1.2
- Height
- Signals of strength and status
what is beautiful is good bias
- We tend to assume that physically attractive people possess other desirable qualities
- Ex. they’re kinder, more sensitive, more trustworthy, more likely to be successful
where does the beautiful is good base from from?
- ubiquitous cultural stereotypes
- motivated cognition view
motivated cognition view of the beautiful is good bias
- Beauty is an intrinsic reward
- We generally want to approach rewarding stimuli
- Through projection, perceive attractive targets as possessing attributes compatible with our approach goals
behavioural confirmation
We not only see what we want to see, but also act in ways that make our expectations come true
behavioural confirmation study methods
- Male perceivers interacted by phone with female targets
- Experimental manipulation: perceivers were led to believe the target was either physically attractive or not
- Tapes of the interaction were rated by outside observers
behavioural confirmation study findings
- Before the interaction, men formed more positive impressions of the target when they believed her to be more attractive
- During the interaction, men behaved more positively towards attractive targets
- Women were rated by observers as more sociable, poised, warm, outgoing, etc. when interacting with a man who thought she was attractive
what explanation for the beautiful is good bias is most strongly supported?
Data better fit the motivated cognition view, although there are limitations to this kind of statistical approach
