Physical Attractiveness

• The Halo Effect

  • We have preconceived ideas on the personality traits of attractive people. Known as the physical attractiveness stereotype
  • Dion(1972) ‘what’s beautiful is good’ - physically attractive people are consistently rated as kind, strong, sociable and successful compared to those deemed unattractive
  • Belief that good people have these features makes them more attractive to us so we behave positively to them = self-fulfilling prophecy
• The matching hypothesis

  • Although physical attractiveness is desirable, we can’t all form relationships with the most attractive people
  • Walster et al(1966) suggests our own attractiveness plays a role in our choice of a romantic partner -> we choose partners who are roughly of a similar attractiveness to ourselves
  • Our choice of partner is a compromise. We desire the most attractive partner but balance this with the wish to avoid being rejected by some one out of our league’