AO1 - Physical Attractiveness

• Evolutionary theory:

  • Shackelford and Larsen found that people with symmetrical faces are rates as more attractive - this is because it may be an honest signal of genetic fitness as it is difficult to fake facial symmetry
  • Women with neotenous (baby face) features such as widely separated large eyes and a small nose are seen as more attractive because they trigger a protective and caring instinct which is a valuable resource for females wanting to reproduce
• The matching hypothesis:

  • We look for partners who are like ourselves in terms of physical attractiveness, instead of choosing the most appealing people
  • Some psychologists replicated a piece of research called the 'computer dance' where participants were asked to choose their own dance partner from people of varying degrees of physical attractiveness. It was found that participants chose partners who 'matched' with them in physical attractiveness
  • We seek partners whose attractiveness is similar to our own as we risk being rejected if we selected someone who is much more attractive