Relationships - Factors affecting attraction: Physical attractiveness Flashcards
What are males attracted to in a female’s face? Why?
Females with neotenous (child-like) faces are more likely to be viewed as attractive by males because their facial features (e.g soft chin and large eyes) trigger an aggressive and protective trait in men which gives the female an evolutionary advantage.
What does the halo effect suggest?
Suggests that we have a tendency to associate highly attractive people with pre-conceived disproportionately positive characteristics, including personality and wealth, even though these factors may not be linked. We are more likely to view attractive people as trustworthy, honest, successful and more sociable compared to their unattractive counterparts. These beliefs increase the likelihood such attractive people develop these traits, and so displays the process of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
According to the Matching Hypothesis what is the key to a successful relationship?
The key is striking a balance between the attractiveness of a mate and the realistic chances of attaining such a mate. This relies on a accurate assessment of one’s own attractiveness and ‘value’ , meaning that we are more likely to have a mate who is of a similar attractiveness level to us.
- Reduces the likelihood of rejection and potential disappointment
When is physical attractiveness important?
Not only in the ‘early stages’, but it was found that physical attractiveness was still an important factor to successful relationships after marriage. (McNully et al 2008)
What is the limitation of physical attractiveness as a factor affecting attraction ?
- The halo effect and physical attractiveness may vary in importance as a predictor of the quality of an early relationship depending on the individual (subjective)
What are the strengths of PA ?
+ Although PA is a relatively broad term it is not affected extensively by cultural relativism
+ Important real life applications associated with an increased understanding of HE and its influence on perception. Think of politicians.
What did Walster test?
Wanted to test the matching hypothesis
What was Walster’s procedure?
Advertised a ‘computer dance’ for new students at the University of Minnesota. From the large number of students who bought tickets - 177 males and 170 females were randomly selected to take part. When they came to pick up their tickets, four student accomplices secretively rated each of them for physical attractiveness. The participants were then asked to complete a lengthy questionnaire and told that the data gathered from these questionnaires would be used to allocated their ideal partner for the evening of the dance. In fact, the pairing was done completely randomly . During the interval part of the dance, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about their dates, with a follow up questionnaire distributed six months after the dance.
What were Walster’s findings?
The findings did not support the matching hypotheses. Regardless of their own physical attractiveness , participants responded more positively to physically attractive 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.
Why does research often fail to find evidence of matching in terms of physical attractiveness?
Due to ‘complex matching’ - people enter relationships offering many desirable characteristics , of which physical attraction is only one . A person may compensate for a lack of physical attractiveness with other desirable qualities such as a charming personality , kindness, status, money and so on. This is called ‘complex matching’ . In this way people are more able to attract partners far more physically attractive than themselves by offering compensatory assets.
Explain research support for sex-differences in the importance of physical attractiveness
Meltzer et al provided support for the claim that research should show that males with physically attractive partners are more satisfied in their relationship. They found that objective ratings of wives’ attractiveness were positively related to levels of husbands’ satisfaction at the beginning of the marriage and remained that way over at least the first four years of marriage. In contrast, objective ratings of husbands’ physical attractiveness were not related to wive’s marital satisfaction, either initially or over time.
Explain research that suggests matching may not be important in initial attraction
In a study of online dating patterns Taylor et al found no evidence that daters’ decisions were driven by similarity between their own and potential partners’ physical attractiveness. Instead they found evidence for overall preference for attractive partners, suggesting that people do not take their own physical attractiveness into account for the initial stages of attraction, but instead aim for someone more desirable than themselves. Although the matching hypothesis did not predict who was initially targeted to who, the researchers did find that individuals who specifically targeted similarly attractive others were more likely to receive responses to their messages
