Physical attractiveness

• We are more likely to be attracted to people who are of similar physical attractiveness to ourselves according to the Matching Hypothesis!
• Hypothesis 1: Attractive people expect an attractive partner

  Hypothesis 2: Couples who are equally matched are happier
• Symmetrical Faces = more attractive as is a sign of good genes (Shackelford and Larsen)

  Neotenous faces (baby face) = widely separated large eyes, small chin and nose = trigger a caring instinct
• A01- Explaining the importance of physical attractiveness

  • Shackleford and Larson (1997) found people with symmetrical faces are more attractive as they have an honest set of genetic fitness (its hard to fake facial symmetry).
  • People are also attracted to baby-face features as they trigger an instinct of protection and caring.
• What event was advertised during freshers week at a college?

  A computer dance
• How many males and females attended the computer dance?

  752
• What was the cost for attending the computer dance?

  $1.00
• How many males were randomly selected for assessment?

  177 males
• How many females were randomly selected for assessment?

  170 females
• How were students assessed for attractiveness?

  By judges when they signed up
• How were students paired for the dance?

  Randomly by a computer
• What restriction was placed on pairing students?

  No man went with a taller woman
• What did students complete during the dance?

  Questionnaires about the dance and their dates
• What was found to be the most important factor in liking?

  Physical attractiveness
• Who were liked more by their dance partners?

  The most physically attractive students
• What was a good indicator of whether students would see each other again?

  Physical attractiveness
• How long after the dance were participants asked if they dated again?

  Six months later
• What was found about participants dating again?

  They were more likely to date if similar attractiveness
• How many students bought welcome week tickets for the computer dance?

  752 students
• What was the purpose of collecting students' information when buying tickets?

  To provide an 'ideal match' date
• How were partners assigned to students for the dance?

  Partners were randomly assigned
• Who marked the students on attractiveness?

  An unseen observer
• How long did students spend with their dates?

  Two hours
• What were students asked after spending time with their dates?

  How much they liked their partner
• Who was liked the most among the students?

  Those who were physically attractive
• What did men do if they found their partner attractive?

  They asked her out
• Did men's attractiveness affect their decision to ask out a partner?

  No, it was regardless of their attractiveness
• Taylor (2011)

   Studied online dating site date choices.

  • Online daters sought meetings with potential partners who were physically more attractive than them ( they didn’t take into account their own attractiveness)
  • HOWEVER, daters who did specifically target similarly attractive others were more likely to receive responses to their messages.
• Individual difference

  Not all people place importance on physical attractiveness

  Towhey (1979) asked male and female pp to rate how much they would like a target individual based on their photograph and some biographical info, also completed a questionnaire to measure sexist attitudes.

  Pts who score high on the questionnaire were more influenced by physical attractiveness. Low scorers were less influenced.
• Sprecher (2009)

  The role of the third party

   Matching is sometimes influenced by third parties such as friends, family, dating sites, etc. Sprecher (2009) suggests it is likely that they are more likely to consider compatibility than similarity/attractiveness alone.
• Sprecher Hatfield (2009)

  People may compensate for a  lack of physical attractiveness with other desirable qualities.

  Which ones?

  Charming personality, kindness, status, money…

  Sprecher Hatfield (2009): “complex matching”

  = that is why research often fails to find evidence of matching in term of physical appearance
• A03 - Research support

  The matching hypothesis is to some extent supported by research. 

  You can use the ones mentioned in our previous activity….
• What did Walter et al.'s original study fail to support?

  The matching hypothesis
• What did other research fail to provide regarding the matching hypothesis?

  Conclusive evidence
• What did Taylor et al. (2011) investigate?

  Activity log on a dating website
• What was found about website users in Taylor et al.'s study?

  They preferred more attractive partners
• How do the findings of Taylor et al. contradict the matching hypothesis?

  Users should seek similar attractiveness partners
• According to the matching hypothesis, what do website users seek in terms of attractiveness?

  Similar attractiveness to increase acceptance
• What is the main prediction of the matching hypothesis?

  People seek partners of similar attractiveness
• What did Towhey (1979) study regarding individual differences?

  Importance of physical attractiveness in relationships