Attraction Flashcards
What did Cunningham et al., (1995) discover about attraction across cultures?
= Slim body build were considered beautiful in 5 cultures; medium in 5 cultures; plump in 18 cultures.
How has attractiveness been seen across time?
= A large body type used to be a sign of good health, wealth, and status.
= What we find attractive is ever-changing
‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’
(Practical application)
What was found in the article ‘Physical Disability Affects Women’s but not Men’s Perception of Opposite-Sex Attractiveness’ according to (Kingstone et al., 2021)?
= Results indicate women rate men with physical disabilities as higher in attractiveness than non-disabled men.
= Attractiveness ratings of individuals with physical disabilities are positively associated with extroversion and empathy in both men and women.
(Physical attraction)
What is the Evolutionary Perspective, according to Buss (1999)?
= Attraction seen as ‘mate selection strategy’
Beauty = health, youth, fertility
= Men attracted to young, attractive females maximises reproductive success.
= Women attracted to older, established men maximises reproduction success.
How does Cunningham (1999) criticise the evolutionary theory?
:( Overemphasises reproductive motives, ignoring other motives e.g., kindness, humour.
(Physical attraction - social perspective)
What did Lemer & Lemer (1977) state?
= Parents were more interested in child’s education if the child was attractive.
(Physical attraction - social perspective)
What did Dion (1977) state?
= Children chose to look at attractive people’s pictures more - which may have been due to reward properties and powerful findings.
= Children rated attractive kids as more likely to be their friends.
(Physical attraction - social perspective)
What 2 possibilities of the Origins of Attractiveness stereotype worth considering?
Lerner., (1970)
- Bias towards attractive people is due to complimentary bias towards ‘winners’ - because they are attractive, they ‘must’ have better dispositions and deserve better fate.
- Attractive people are better people.
(Physical attraction - social perspective)
‘People get what they deserve’ (Lerner., 1970)
= Beliefs in the ‘just world’ enables us to view our environment as safe and predictable.
= Help get desired outcomes and avoid undesired outcomes.
= Being confronted with someone else’s misfortune reminds us that it could happen to anyone.
= Therefore, to deal with this threat we conclude that the victim deserved what they got.
(Physical attraction - social perspective)
What did meta-analysis’ of attractiveness stereotypes show?
Hebl et al., (2003)
= Judgements on intelligence and adjustments not affected.
= Honesty and concern are not affected.
= Attractive people are seen as more vein and not concerned about others.
Physical attraction - social perspective)
What did Dermel & Thiel (1975) study?
= Showed ppts pictures of people with various levels of attractiveness, asking them to judge how vein, committed, and sympathetic to others misfortunes.
= results showed attractive people received unfavourable judgements on all dimensions.
Psychological attraction
How does classical and operant conditioning of liking link to attraction?
> > > liking those whom with good things are associated»_space;> obtain a reward by interaction.
Psychological attraction
What did Dutton and Aron., (1974) study?
= Shaky vs sturdy bridge experiment.
= Males on shaky/rising condition rated a female as more attractive.
= Therefore, physical arousal cues may be subtle (sunny or rainy day), but can have an effect on arousal and consequently feelings of attraction.
What is meant by the concept ‘Praise’?
= We like those who like us/praise us.
= Complicated concept as people need both positive/negative feedback.
= Those with positive self-concepts prefer positive feedback.
= Those with negative self-concepts prefer negative feedback.
What is the Personal Equity Theory (Seta, & Seta., 1982).
= Proposes that individuals strive for fairness and equity in social relationships.
= Individuals evaluate their inputs (such as time, effort, and resources) and outcomes (such as rewards, benefits, and costs) in relation to those of others, and seek to maintain a balance or equity between the two.