perceptia persoane: atractivitatea Flashcards
what is interpersonal attraction
Positive evaluations of other people
the strength of liking or loving another person
what is physical attractiveness
characteristics that are evaluated as beautiful or handsome vs unattractive
element of romantic attraction
Is beauty in the eye of the beholder?
No.
It is more objective
Because there is a good agreement among people, including children, and within and across cultures, about which people are more physically attractive.
It is easy to identify who is universally attractive
what is the role of physical appearance in interpersonal attraction
physical appearance has a strong effect on interpersonal attraction
those with a nicer physical appearance will be evaluated more positively and people will like them more
What is a study to indicate that physical attractiveness is important
after an arranged date when ppts danced, talked and spent time together, the most important factor affecting their evaluation of their date was the date’s psychical attractiveness.
So physical attractiveness influences social behaviour.
What do babies prefer?
One year old infants prefer attractive to unattractive faces
What is considered pretty?
youthful is pretty - more for women than men
symmetrical - indicates healthy -a good person to have children with
What is the study indicating that averaged faces are the most pretty?
Langlois 1990 averaged several photos of different women and men into once face
The most average face was evaluated as the most attractive
The more faces are averaged into a photo, the more attractive the averaged face seems
Familiarity - we like familiar
What are the benefits of beauty?
Beauty has been associated with:
- better health outcomes for infants in hospitals
- better earnings
- better teaching evaluations
- winning elections
Why is beauty associated with better health outcomes (experimental study)
Pretty people in somebody else’s care do better because we want to care for pretty people
Premature Infants who who were physically attracted grew faster because nurse attended to them more - received more nurturing
What is an explanation for that? Thorndike 1920
Halo effect
- a cognitive bias by which we tend to assume that an individual with 1 positive characteristic also possesses other good characteristics
e.g. attractive ppl are attributed with trustworthiness
What other characteristics do we attribute to beautiful people?
More
sociable
extraverted
popular
sexual
happy
assertive
How are the characteristics that we attribute to beautiful people different depending on culture?
Across cultures, we attribute pretty people with characteristics that those cultures value particularly.
E.g. if Japan values modesty then pretty people will be seen as modest
What is beauty like in the brain?
Stronger activation in occipital lobes when we see beautiful faces and make evaluative judgements
How else are beautiful people seen as good?
Attractive ppl are seen as healthier, more intelligent, kind, altruistic
Attractive defendants are found guilty less often
Looking at beautiful faces enhances mood
What is the link between attractive people and self-fulfilling prophecy?
The beautiful receive a great deal of social attention so they develop good social skills.
They do report having more satisfying interactions with others.
This is bc if other ppl attribute characteristics to you then you acquire those characteristics
Can a regular person be made to act like a beautiful one via the self fulfilling prophecy
Men talked through a phone
They saw each others pictures but it wasn’t actually them
When men interacted with a woman who was pretty, they treated her in a friendlier way
What are the disadvantages to being pretty?
Unsure if liked only for looks
Attractive ppl trusted flattering evaluation of their work more if they had been told evaluator did not know what they looked like
What are other things that contribute to interpersonal attraction?
Proximity - physical closeness between ppl with respect to where they live, work or sit in the classroom
What is the propinquity effect?
The more we see and interact with people, the more likely they are to become our friends
What is an experiment that investigated proximity?
41% of the next-door neighbours indicated they were close friends
10% of those who lived on opposite ends of the hall indicated they were close friends
The smaller the physical distance between ppl the greater the probability they will meet, they experience repeated exposure and develop mutual attraction
What is the mere exposure effect?
The more exposure we have to a stimulus, the more we have a positive evaluation of it.
How has the mere exposure effect been investigated?
A female assistant attended a class 0, 5, 10 or 15 times without interacting with students.
Her photo was liked more depending on how many times she visited a classroom during the semester.
With repeated exposure, positive emotions increase
What is the relationship between exposure and positive affect.
With repeated exposure, positive affect increases
A familiar face elicits positive affect, is evaluated positively, and activates facial muscles and brain activity associated with positive emotions
A beautiful face is perceived as more familiar than an unattractive one
Does exposure effect work with ugly faces?
No.
When initial reaction to a stimulus is very negative then repeated exposure does not work and may lead to even greater dislike
How does similarity lead to more liking?
College men became friends with those who were similar in
- demographics
- attitudes
- values
What about similar appearance?
We seek physical proximity to those similar in appearance
We seek others with a similar degree of physical attractiveness to us
Why does this matter?
We have a need for affiliation - the need to interact with other people in a cooperative way
All humans have a need for affiliation
We evolved to function in the presence of others
Some ppl may vary in the amount of affiliation they need
Why do we need regular social contact?
People who have network of social contacts are. more satisfied with life than those who don’t
Why do we need to be in a relationship
we need a relationship in which people share mutual concern for each other
ppl in a relationship still desire a social network
What does it mean when you fail to satisfy affiliation
leads to health problems
Premature death rates higher among people without social connections
Physical and mental health problems associated with loneliness
Loneliness impairs immune system
What is ostracism?
Being excluded, rejected and ignored by others
Silent treatment as form of punishment
What does continual ostracism lead to?
Continual ostracism associated with health problems and lowered self-esteem
What is rejection sensitivity
personality trait, a tendency to expect rejection from others and to be oversensitive to possible rejection
Research pins this to early childhood experiences
What are the consequences of rejection sensitivity
Men who are romantically involved and high on rejection sensitivity are more prone to violence in this relationship
Men who are not romantically involved and high on rejection sensitivity tend to avoid romantic opportunities especially when rejection is possible
How did ostracised participants feel in the cyberostracism experiment?
Ostracised participants felt sad, expressed having less control, and losing a sense of belonging
Exhibited more conformist behaviour
How did ostracised participants evaluate room temperature?
Ostracised participants evaluated the temperature of a room as colder
They desired more warm food and drink
What is ostracism like in the brain?
Ostracism activates regions of the brain that process pain
If you take a pill that reduces physical pain via the central nervous system, you get less negative effect of ostracism
