relationships - physical attractiveness

Question 1

what is physical attractiveness?

Answer 1

this is an important factor in the formation of romantic relationships. the terms usually applies to how appealing we find a person’s face.

Question 2

shackelford and larsen (1997)

Answer 2

they found that people with symmetrical faces are rated as more attractive, this links to the honest signal of genetic fitness. they also found that people are attracted to people with neotenous (baby face) features like wide eyes and a small nose, this triggers a protective or caring instinct.

Question 3

mcnulty et al (2008)

Answer 3

found evidence that physical attractiveness is not only important at the start of the relationship, it is the initial attractiveness that bring partners together and this is an important feature that continues until several years after marriage.

Question 4

who invented the halo effect?

Answer 4

dion et al (1972)

Question 5

what is the halo effect?

Answer 5

the halo effect is when we hold preconceived ideas about other attributes of attractive people, this is overwhelmingly positive because of the person’s physical attractiveness.

Question 6

who introduced the matching hypothesis theory?

Answer 6

walster et al (1966)

Question 7

what is the matching hypothesis?

Answer 7

this theory suggests that we choose people who are on the same attractiveness level to others and ourselves, for example if we judged ourselves as a 7/10, we will look for someone who is on the same attractiveness level as us.