lecture 9 Flashcards
What is attraction
immediate and positive emotional and/or behavioral response to someone
Behavioral attraction component of attraction
I would like to meet this person
affect component
reflecting the quality of one’s subjective response
Physical attractiveness
Very valued in people
People will look at attractive faces for longer
Across the board people who are more attractive get more attention
When given a choice, the hotter the better
Heterosexual men tend to value it more than women
This is because physical attractiveness in women is seen as youthfulness and fertility (genetic component)
This isn’t the case for perceptions of men
Physical attractiveness contributors
Symmetry, body size/proportions, facial attractiveness
What causes certain characteristics to be considered attractive?
Major contributors:
Biology
Culture
Sexual selection
evolution of adaptive traits to increase reproductive advantage
These can be detrimental to survival
Ie peacocks feather colors can attract predators, but female peacocks are attracted to the color
Theory of sexual selection
our mating behavior as humans reflects our preferences for traits that have been selected for
Parental Investment theory
Women have greater minimal obligatory investment when having children
women decide to have a child they are going through much more than men)
Women tend to be the choosier sex when deciding on a partner because consequences are much more severe
Sexual Strategies Theory:
Men and women face different adaptive problems in reproductions
Men want to spread their seed to as many women as possible
Men want to minimize commitment ,shorter relationships
Women are choosy and want a man that can give resources, can actually care for children
culture:Historically:
Female voluptuousness associated with femininity and fertility
Male masculinity associated with lower class
~Laborers and farmers
More recently
femininity-> skinny, sexuality without the ties of motherhood, career (sexiness for its own sake, whereas historically sexiness was viewed as wanting to bear children)
Masculinity and affluence associated with strength and muscularity
Male attractiveness (physical attractiveness)
Women rate appearance as less important than men do
However women report being more sexuality attracted to taller men
Correlated to the preference for males who demonstrate confidence, physical strength, and a powerful bearing
Shorter men are viewed as unattractive for both casual and intended long-term relationships
Women do have preference for muscularity
Men tend to overestimate the amount of muscle considered ideal by women
Women prefer more masculine men during the fertile period of the menstrual cycle and more feminine men during other part of the cycle
Meta analyses found that this finding is not as robust, and many studies failed to replicate the findings
Female attractiveness(physical attractiveness)
Men report being more attracted to younger women across cultures
Across 37 cultures, prefer mate who is, on average 2.5 years younger than them
Preference of youthful appearing features: full lips, clear smooth skin, clear eyes, lustrous hair, and good muscle tone
Larger breasts-signal reproductive maturity and fertility
However in the US, women overestimate:
1)men’s preferences for thinness in a mate
2)men’s preferences for large breasts
Waist Hip Ratio
Men prefer a women with a 0.7 waist to hip ratio
Waist to hip ratio: ratio of the circumference of the waist to circumference of the hips
On average, a female WHR of 0.7 is rated as most attractive by hetero men and lesbians
WHR Related to health:
Optimal ratio (for general health and fertility):
Women: 0.7
Men:0.9
Variation among cultures:
China: 0.6
South america and africa: 0.8-0.9 from front; 0.6 from side
Male attractiveness: Waist to Shoulder Ratio
WSR= circumference waist/circumference shoulders
Ideal waist shoulder ratio preferred by women and gay men is 0.75 or lower
Broad shoulder and muscles perceived to be associated with increased testosterone, masculinity
Facial Symmetry
theories
More facial symmetry is Indicator of genetic fitness
Genes are designed to produce to perfect symmetrical copies of us
Perceptual bias:
People prefer symmetry, because symmetrical things are easier to process
Facial Sexual Dimorphism
theory
preference for traits that best exhibit sexual maturation and reproductive fitness
For women: big eyes, small nose, small chin, full lips and prominent cheekbones, narrow cheeks, broad smile
In men: strong jaws and broad foreheads, slightly more feminized and baby faced men are more attractive too
Facial Averaging
Evidence that people rate computer averaged faces as more attractive than non-average faces
Non-ordinary features might be associated with genetic abnormalities
Average is better
Western beauty ideals are being exported
Across cultures, western beauty ideals are spreading
Cosmetic surgery industry
In 2016, there were 1.8 million cosmetic surgeries done
17.5 million minimally invasive procedures done
Ie: facials, microdermabrasion
dark side of beauty
In culture where thinness is idealized, people associate being overweight with laziness, softness and weakness
Still a socially acceptable prejudice
Mixed messages about food and weight
Food culture
In canada more men than women are overweight, but more women than men diet
Canadian teenagers: 69% of girls would like to lose weight, 54% of boys want to gain weight
ED’s
Dutton and Aron (1974)
Male participants crossed either a stable bridge or an unstable one to meet female confederate on the other side
Female confederate had them look at a picture and make up a story, gave her phone number in case any questions about the study
Misattribution of arousal: misattribution of arousal from crossing the bridge as attraction to female confederate
Conclusion: more men who crossed unstable bridge, called confederate (female)
This is why viewing scary movies and doing exciting things increases attraction
Misattribution of arousal:
misattribution of arousal from crossing the bridge as attraction to female confederate
partner choice
When men and women are choosing sexual partners they are more alike in their priorities compared to choosing a marriage partner
When choosing a marriage partner there are some differences between what men and women prioritize
Men: 1)personality, 2)trustworthy, 3)attractive
women:1)trustworthy, 2)sensitive, 3)personality
Key predictors of partner choice:
Proximity
Mere exposure
Homophily
Similarity
Matching phenomenon
Reciprocal liking
Proximity
Greater attraction to those in closer proximity to us
People who we find attractive are in our immediate surrounding
Dating apps brandend range of proximity
Familiarity
Mere exposure effect:
: greater attraction to the more exposure we have to them
If first impression is negative, we tend to like them less and less
Similarity
Assortative mating: tendency to choose a partner who is similar to oneself on one or more characteristics
Homophily: tendency to have contact with people equal in social status
Same Ethnicity: the most consistent similarity for people in relationships
People tend to date in the same ethnicity
Why?
One suggestion states People from certain ethnic groups live in same area, but there is also mixing
What about in vancouver?
Canada has 3.9% mixed unions(different minority groups together), but vancouver has the highest percentage of mixed union with 9.6%
Conflicting views
Non-whites make up half of vancouver
Only 12% of ethnic individuals are in mixed unions
In victoria, 37% are in mixed unions, in kelowna, 39%, vancouver is sitting lower in mixed unions
Of the population of ethnic minorities, there is actually fewer of them who are in mixed unions in vancouver
Why?
As size of ethnic group gets bigger the intermarriage rate (marriage outside of ethnicity) actually goes down
When people don’t have to look outside of their group, they don’t
South east asians and east asians are the least likely to look outside their ethnic group
Matching phenomenon
We tend to choose partners who match us in quality
People seek out relationships where there is a balance of rewards and costs
Attractive people date attractive people
Men and women have different mate value:
For men this could be successful job, money
For women this could be physical attractiveness, youthful
Self-esteem plays a role
Reciprocal liking
We like those who like us and we dislike those who dislike us
Speed dating study:
Conclusion: when they find out their date reported higher attraction to them, they increased their own rating of that date
Sternberg’s triangular theory of love
Love has 3 components:
1)intimacy
Emotional component of love
Giving or receiving emotional support
2)passion
Physical attraction and drive for sexual expression
3)decision/commitment
Decision: wanting to go into relationship
Commitment: wanting to maintain relationship over time
Commitment makes relationship last
Studies show that intimacy predicts the highest level of sexual satisfaction
Consummate love
people who experience high levels of all 3 components of intimacy, passion, and decision/commitment
fatuous love
high passion, high commitment, low intimacy
Romantic love
high intimacy and passion, lower commitment
Companionate love
high intimacy and commitment, low passion
Love can change over time, the most common shift is:
Romantic love->companionate love over time
Love as a story (sternberg):
we have ideas of what love should be/is like
Contains characters, a plot, and a theme
Sternberg identified 25 common love stories in america
Some examples of love stories:
War story
love is a mystery
house and home
garden story
People tend to be unhappy or leave relationships, when it doesnt match the story in their head
Romantic beliefs:
Notion of “one true love”
73% americans believe in soulmate
Romantic beliefs associated with greater risk of relationship collapse
People who hold these beliefs tend to have higher rates of their relationships ending
Arranged vs love marriages
Satisfaction in love marriages starts off high, then steadily declines throughout marriage
In arrange marriages, satisfactions starts off low, then gradually increases throughout time
Predictors of long term relationship satisfaction
Feeling loved/appreciated
Emotional closeness
Sexual satisfaction (quantity, type, context, etc)
Self-disclosure
Ability to resolve conflict
Skilled communication (relationship/sex)
Mindfulness (being present, identifying and communicating emotions)
Communication
Communication is important for romantic relationships,sex included
Poorer communication at the start of a relationship linked to relationship problems (breakup) later on
Stable couples have on average 5 positive interaction to 1 negative interaction during argument
The 4 horsemen of the apocalypse (gottman) predictors of divorce:
1)criticism:attacking persons personality
You’re so lazy
2)contempt: disgust and anger
Intentionally insulting partner
3)defensiveness
Complaining not addressing the problem
4)stonewalling
Ignoring partner, withdrawing
