AO1

• Facial symmetry

  Shackelford & Larsen (1997)


  from an evolutionary perspective, facial attractiveness may provide information about underlying health

  People with more symmetrical faces are often viewed as more attractive as they show signs of fertility or genetic fitness

  empirical evidence that facially attractive people may more more physically healthier than asymmetrical people
• Neotenous features

  (baby faces)

  women with large, widely spaced eyes and a small nose and chin have been judged the most attractive cross culturally as they tent to elicit a nurturant response
• The Halo effect

  we have a perceived idea that the personality traits attractive people must have are almost universally positive

  physically attractive people are consistently related as kind, strong, sociable and successful compared to unattractive people

  believed attractive people have these traits which make them more attractive to us so we behave positively towards them

  creating a self-fulfilling prophecy
• The matching hypothesis

  Walster (1966)

  - people choose romantic partners who are roughly of similar physical attractiveness to each other

  - we make a realistic judgement about our own 'value' to a potential partner e.g a compromise

  we desire the most physically attractive partner possible but we want to avoid being rejected so may compromise on a partner who we think matches us