physical attractiveness Flashcards
What are physically attractive features?
People with symmetrical faces - genetic fitness
Neotenous features - large eyes, small nose - trigger caring instinct
Attractiveness continues to be important even in long term
What is the physical attractiveness stereotype?
We have preconceived ideas that attractive people are kinder, more successful
What is the self fulfilling prophecy?
The belief that good looking people are nicer makes them more attractive
We behave positively towards them
What is the halo effect?
One feature has a disproportionate influence on our judgements of others
Why does the matching hypothesis occur?
We can’t all form relationships with the most attractive people
Don’t want to be rejected by someone out of our league
What is the matching hypothesis?
People choose partners who are of the same attractiveness to them
Make realistic judgement about our own value
Evaluation - research support for halo effect
Palmer and Peterson - attractive people rated as more politically knowledgeable
Persisted even when pps knew attractive person had no expertise
Implications for political process
Evaluation - individual differences
Towhey - pps rated how much they’d like a person based on photo and biographical info
Pps completed MACHO scale - measured sexist attitudes
Pps who scored highly were more likely to be influenced by attractiveness
Not important for everyone
Evaluation - support for matching hypothesis
Feingold - meta analysis of 17 studies
Correlation in ratings of attractiveness between romantic partners
Studies looked at real partners
Evaluation - cultural influences
Cunningham - female features of large eyes and small noses were attractive to white, Hispanic and Asian men
Wheeler and Kim - Koreans and Americans found physically attractive people more trustworthy
Consistent
Evaluation - contradictory research for matching hypothesis
Taylor - activity logs of online dating site
People sought dates with people more attractive than them
