AO3

• Palmer & Peterson (2012)


  found that physically attractive people were rated as more politically knowledgeable and competent than unattractive people even if they have no expertise

  showing that there was clear implications for democracy which could be negative if politicians are judged as suitable for office because they're seen as physically attractive by voters
• 1) Research support

  empirical support

  empirical support for the halo effect

  research - Palmer & Peterson (2012)

  Examples of the halo effect can be found in everyday life, confirming that physical attractiveness is an important factor in the formation of relationships, romantic and platonic
• Towhey (1979)

  asked male and female pps how much they liked an individual based on a photograph and some biographical information

  pps completed the MACHO scale

  MACHO scale measures sexist attitudes and behaviours

  Towhey found that the pps who scored highly on the scale were more influenced by the physical attractiveness of the individual when making their judgement of likeability

  low scores were less sensitive to this influence
• 2) Individual differences

  individual differences is important on how people place physical attractiveness

  research - Towhey (1979)

  the effects of physical attractiveness can be moderated by other factors which challenges the notion that it's a significant consideration in relationship formation for all potential partners
• Feingold (1988)

  carried out meta-analusis of 17 studies

  Found a significant correlation in ratings of attractiveness between romantic partners
• 3) research support

  Walster et al (1966) - original research study that attempted to confirm the matching hypothesis failed to do so

  the measurement of attractiveness was not reliable as the raters who had to judge the attractiveness of the participants only had a few seconds to do so

  research - Feingold (1988)

  this supports the matching hypothesis and has a more valid methodology as researchers looked at actual partners which is a more realistic approach
• 4) matching hypothesis

  Taylor et al (2011)

  research for matching hypothesis

  studied logs on dating sites

  a real life test because it measured actual date choice and not just preference

  found that online daters wanted to date people who were more physically attractive than them rather than similar in attractiveness

  suggesting that pps do not consider their own level of attractiveness when making decisions on who to date
• Cunningham et al (1995)

  found that female features of large eyes, prominent check bones, small nose and high eyebrows were rated as highly attractive by white, Asian and Hispanic males.
• Wheeler & Kim (1997)

  found that Korean and American students judged physically attractive people to be more trustworthy, concerned for other people, mature and friendly.
• Cultural influences

  what is seen as attractive is consistent across cultures

  research - Cunningham et al (1995)

  The physical attractiveness stereotypes is culturally pervasive

  research - Wheeler & Kim (1997)

  stereotypes appear strong in both collectivist and individualist cultures.