physical attractiveness Flashcards
what does the research suggest about what makes someone attractive?
Shackleford and Larson (1997) found people with asymmetrical faces are more attractive as they have an honest set of genetic fitness (it’s hard to fake symmetry).
what theory does this fit?
Neotenous faces with widely separated large eyes, a small chin, and a small nose is deemed to be attractive as it triggers a caring instinct.
what is the halo effect?
The halo effect is a type of cognitive bias whereby our perception of someone is positively influenced by our opinions of that persons other related traits.
(Thorndike, 1920)
The halo effect can shape our perception of others’ intelligence and competence.
what is the attractiveness stereotype?
Refers to the tendency to assign positive qualities and traits to physically attractive people. People often tend to judge attractive individuals to have higher morality, better mental health, and greater intelligence. This cognitive error in judgment reflects one’s individual prejudices, ideology, and social perception.
Physical attractiveness may have powerful role in attraction because of the stereotypes people hold.
what did Dion et al (1972) find?
Dion et al (1972) found physically attractive people are consistently rated as kind, strong, sociable, and successful.
This led to a self-fulfilling prophecy of behaving positively towards people.
what evidence is there for cultural variations in physical attractiveness?
Wheeler and Kim (1997) found that Korean and American students judged physically attractive people to be more trustworthy, concerned for other people, mature and friendly.
The stereotype was just as strong in collectivist cultures as it is in individualist cultures.
what is the matching hypothesis?
The matching hypothesis (Walster, 1966) claims that people are more likely to form a committed relationship with someone equally attractive or the same level of social desirability.
what does the matching hypothesis theory suggest?
The theory suggests that people assess their own value and then make ‘realistic choices’ by selecting the nest available potential partners who are also likely to share this same level of attraction.
what was the procedure of Walster (1966)?
- advertisement a computer dance for new students and UOM. 376 males and 376 females were randomly selected to take part in the study.
- when they came to pick up their tickets, for student accomplices surreptitiously rated each of them for physical attractiveness.
- ps were then asked to complete a questionnaire and told that the data gathered from these questionnaires would be used to allocate their ideal partners for the evening of the dance. In fact, pairing was done randomly.
- during the intermission part of the dance, p’s were asked to complete a questionnaire about their dates, with a follow-up questionnaire 6 months after the dance.
what were the findings of Walter’s study?
- The findings from this study didn’t support the matching hypothesis.
- Once participants had met their dates, and regardless of their own physical attractiveness, they responded more positively to physically attractive dates and were more likely to subsequently try to arrange dates with them if they were physically attractive.
- Other factors, such as personality and intelligence, did not affect liking the dates or any subsequent attempts to date them.
