physical attractiveness

• INTRO

  • evolution states that physical attractiveness is the first factor that draws partners together. research has found that certain features in women such as having a baby face (soft skin, big eyes) are more likely to be viewed as attractive by males as these features act as social releasers which triggers protective instincts in men
  • similarly, facial symmetry is more advantageous for mating aa it suggests high-quality strong genetics
• HALO AFFECT

  • coined by dion et al
  • a type of cognitive bias that makes us have pre-determined positive perceptions of an attracive person e.g being friendly or wealthy - essentially more socially desirable. however, there may be no correlation between the two but we still form a positive impression of more attractive people
• MATCHING HYPOTHESIS

  • proposed by Walter
  • it is a cognitive mechanism based on the assumption that we usually choose partners who are the same level of attractiveness as us.
  • involves an individual self analysing themselves and their potential partner to assess whether they are the same level of attractiveness
  • this enables individuals to avoid the risk of rejection of someone more attractive than them, aswell as ensuring they don't settle for someone less attractive than them
• A03

  +attractiveness is universally important. research by Cunningham et al has found that attractiveness is not culturally relative and in fact both collectivist and individualist cultures find similar features attractive such as sharp cheekbones and big eyes. this therefore suggests that attractiveness has stayed a consistently important feature in relationships therefore making these theories more generalisable
• A03

  -BETA BIAS - while attractiveness is evidently important for both gender, it is more focussed on males. for example, evolution stresses more importance of attractiveness for males, whereas women may prioritise someone who is more caring or hardworking compared to someone physically attractive. this therefore suggests that physical attractiveness is more important for male so is an overgeneralisation to women stating there is no difference between the two genders
• A03

  +real world application - research by palmer and Peterson has found even after stating that images of attractive men had no political knowledge, women still associated them as being trust-worthy and intelligent with high political knowledge. this therefore supports the idea of the halo effect as individuals are pre-conceived to believing attractive people are more socially desirable. this study can be applied to real world politics as people may vote for a political party whose MP is attractive and therefore feel they are smart and have the best approach rather than voting off logic