Relationships - physical attractiveness

Question 1

what is physical attractiveness

Answer 1

• how appealing we find a person’s face
• seek to form relationships with the most attractive person

Question 2

what is the halo effect

Answer 2

• preconceived ideas about the personality traits attractive people have

Question 3

what is the matching hypothesis

Answer 3

• we don’t select the most attractive person but are attracted to who matches us as a person

Question 4

what is the research into the matching hypothesis

Answer 4

Walster and Walster (1969)
- male and female students were invited to a dance
- rated for physical attractiveness by objective observers
- completed a questionnaire about themselves - info added to a computer to select their partner

Question 5

what were the findings of the matching hypothesis

Answer 5

• most liked partners were also the most physically attractive rather than taking into account their own physical attractiveness

Question 6

what are the strengths of physical attractiveness

Answer 6

Palmer and Peterson (2012)
- physically attractive people were rated as more politically knowledgeable
- dangers for democracy

Cunningham et al (1995)
- women who had features of large eyes, prominent cheekbones, small nose were highly attracted by white, hispanic and asian men
- what is considered physically attractive is consistent across cultures

Question 7

what are the limitations of physical attractiveness

Answer 7

Lindsay Taylor et al (2011)
- studied activity logs of a dating site
- measured actual dating choices not just preference’s
- online daters sought meetings with potential partners who were more physically attractive than them
- contradicts matching hypothesis