Lesson 3: Physical Attractiveness Flashcards
What affects attraction in romantic relationships?
Physical attractiveness
Fill in the blank:
Men place a great deal of importance on physical attractiveness when choosing a female partner in the __________ and the ____________
Short-term and the long-term
Do women place a great deal of importance on physical attractiveness when choosing a partner in the short-term and long term?
Yes, they do place a great deal of importance when choosing a partner in the SHORT TERM but not in the LONG-TERM
What is the HALO effect?
The halo effect is when the general impression of a person is incorrectly
formed from one characteristic alone (e.g. physical attractiveness)
How does the halo effect affect physically attractive people?
-Physically attractive people are often seen as more SOCIABLE, OPTIMISTIC, SUCCESSFUL and trustworthy.
-People tend to behave positively towards people who are physically
attractive and this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy where the physically
attractive person behaves even more positively because of the positive
attention they receive
Give a positive evaluation of the Halo effect
(Hint: Politics)
+ Palmer and Peterson (2012) found that physically attractive people were
rated as more politically knowledgeable than unattractive people.
The halo effect was so powerful that it persisted even when participants found out that the physically attractive person had no expertise in politics.
Give a negative evaluation of the Halo effect
(Hint: MACHO scale)
- Towhey (1979) asked male and female participants to rate how much they
liked an individual based on a photograph. Participants also completed a MACHO
scale which measured SEXIST attitudes and behaviour.
It was found that participants who scored highly on the MACHO scale were more influenced by physical attractiveness.
Those who scored low on the questionnaire did not
value physical attractiveness. Therefore, the influence of physical
attractiveness is moderated by other factors (e.g. personality).
What is the matching hypothesis?
The matching hypothesis states that when initiating romantic relationships, individuals seek partners that have the same social desirability as themselves.
Why do people end up in a relationship with an individual that has a similar level of physical attractiveness to themselves?
Although most people would PREFER to form a relationship with someone who is PHYSICALLY ATTRACTIVE, they will approach others who are of a
similar level of attractiveness to themselves in order to AVOID GETTING REJECTED.
Positive evaluation of the Matching Hypothesis
(Hint: Meta-analysis)
+ Fangold (1988) found supportive evidence for the matching hypothesis by
carrying out a meta-analysis of 17 studies using real-life couples.
He established a strong positive correlation between the partners’ ratings of physical
attractiveness, just as predicted by the matching hypothesis.
Negative evaluation of the Matching hypothesis
(Hint: complex matching)
- Sometimes a very physically attractive person forms a relationship with an
unattractive person. Often a rebalance of traits will occur, whereby the less
physically attractive person has some other traits to make up for their lack of
physical attractiveness (e.g. being rich, having a high status or great
personality). This is called complex matching whereby a very attractive person
forms a relationship with an unattractive person.
