AO1

• Shackleford and Larsen found that people with symmetrical faces are rated as more attractive
• Why are symmetrical faces considered more attarctive?

  Signal of genetic fitness (difficult to fake facial symmetry)
• What is baby-face called?

  Neotenous
• People are attracted with neotenous features because it triggers a protective or caring instinct
• Physical attractiveness may also matter because we have preconceived ideas about the personal traits attractive people must have, and they are almost universally positive
• What is the physical attractive stereotype?


  A widely accepted view that attractive people must have positive personality traits
• Who coined the phrase ‘What is beautiful is good’?

  Dion et al.
• Dion et al. found that physically attractive people are consistently rated as kind, strong, sociable and successful compared to unattractive people
• How does the physical attractiveness stereotype link to the self fulfilling prophecy?


  The belief that good-looking people probably have these positive characteristics makes them more attractive to us, so we behave positively towards them
• What is the halo effect?


  One distinguishing feature (physical attractiveness) tend to have a disproportionate influence on our judgements of a person’s other attributes, for example, their personality
• What is the matching hypothesis?


  The belief that we do not select the most attractive person as a prospective partner. Instead, we are attracted to a person who approximately ‘matches’ us in physical attractiveness. This implies we take into account our own attractiveness ‘value‘ to others when seeking a romantic partner
• Who suggested the matching hypothesis?

  Walster and Walster
• Walster et al. designed a study to test the matching hypothesis called ‘the computer dance’
• What was the procedure of the computer dance experiment?


  Male and female students were invited to a dance. They were rated for physical attractiveness by objective observes at the start and also completed a questionnaire about themselves. They were told the data about themselves and that this information would be used by a computer to decide their partner for the evening. In reality, thy were paired up randomly
• What were the findings of the computer dance experiment?

  The hypothesis was not supported. The most liked were also the most physically attractive rather than taking their own level of attractiveness to account
• Although the original study didn't supported the hypothesis, who replicated the study and how was it different?

  Bercheid et al, replicated the study. But this time each participant was able to select their partner from people of varying degrees of attractiveness. This time participants tended to choose partners who matched them in physical attractiveness
• Conclusion from the research on matching hypothesis

  We tend to seek and choose partners whose attractiveness matches our own. Therefore choice of partner is a compromise. We risk rejection in selecting the most attractive people available so we settle on those who are ‘in our league’ physically