physical attraction

• physical attractiveness?

  • plays role in attraction in romantic relationships
  • highlighted in evolutionary theories that its displayed by - symmetry of face - indicated good genes & health
• halo effect?

  • where an impression is formed from one characteristic
  • when someone is physically attractive we tend to have preconceived idea that they possess desirable qualities - trustworthy/optimistic
• the matching hypothesis?

  • states that people choose romantic partner whos roughly of same attractiveness to each other
  • to do this we make realistic judgement of our value
  • we want most physically attractive partner but have to weigh up our own value to avoid rejection by going for someone who is out of our league
  • dont want to be with someone more attractive than ourselves - fearful that they will leave us for someone who is more similar to them in attractiveness & leads to jealousy
• 2 * of physical attraction?

  1. evidence to support from murstein 1972
  2. evidence to support from walster & walster 1969
• 2 X of physical attraction?

  1. ignores indivdual differences
  2. evidence to contradict from taylor 2011
• * evidence from murstein 1972?

  • asked p to assess physical attractiveness levles of genuine & non genuine couples from photos
  • found that real couples were more likely to be judged as similar attractive levels than non real couples
  • shows matching hypothesis to be true as people are more likely to have greater attraction to someone of similar level of pa to themselves
• X ignores individual differences?

  • when choosing partner some people prefer personality over physical attractiveness
  • eg someone may be lower/higher value of PA but may have same value when it comes to personality
  • also peoples perceptions of their own attractiveness varies
  • ignores individual differences & fact that PA may not be important in romantic relationships to all individuals
• * evidence from walster & walster 1969?

  • told students that theyd been assigned an ideal partner for a dance - random
  • students met before dance & those who has been paired with partners of similar PA to themselves expressed greater liking than those who had dissimilar levels of PA
  • shows people show greater level of attraction when they have similar levels of PA to each other
  • feel more comfortable & less self conscious compared to if their partner was more attractive
• X evidence from taylor 2011?

  • studied activity logs of popular online dating websites
  • measured actual date choices
  • online dates sought meetings with potential partners who were more PA than them
  • seems they didnt consider their own level of attractiveness when making decisions of who to date
  • doesnt support matching hypothesis as not all attraction may be due to having same PA value
  • in face to face situation fear of rejection is greater
  • online theres less risk so more likely to pursue more attractive person
  • suggests may be other factors affecting attraction other than matching hypothesis