Physical Attractiveness

15
FACTORS AFFECTING ATTRACTION: PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS HOLLY

Transcript of Physical Attractiveness

FACTORS AFFECTING ATTRACTION:

PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESSHOLLY

AO1 • DEFINE: • PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS: • - IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN THE FORMATION OF ROMANTIC

RELATIONSHIPS. IT APPLIES SPECIFICALLY TO HOW WE FIND A PERSON’S FACE.

• -THERE IS GENERAL AGREEMENT WITHIN AND ACROSS CULTURES ABOUT WHAT IS CONSIDERED PHYSICALLY ATTRACTIVE.

• -THERE IS AN ASSUMPTION THAT WE SEEK TO FORM RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE MOST ATTRACTIVE PERSON AVAILABLE.

• DEFINE: • THE MATCHING HYPOTHESIS: • - IS THE BELIEF THAT WE DO NOT SELECT THE MOST ATTRACTIVE PERSON

AS A POTENTIAL PARTNER BUT RATHER SOMEONE WE BELIEVE TO ‘MATCH’ OUR LEVEL OF PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS. PEOPLE CONSIDER THEIR ON VALUE OF PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS WHEN SEEKING ROMANTIC PARTNERS.

EXPLAINING THE IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS. • - PSYCHOLOGISTS SUGGEST THAT WE ARE ABLE FIND OUT

WHY PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS IS SO IMPORTANT FROM THE EVOLUTIONARY THEORY.

• - SHACKELFORD AND LARSEN (1997) FOUND THAT PEOPLE WITH SYMMETRICAL FACES ARE GENERALLY CONSIDERED TO BE MORE ATTRACTIVE. THIS IS BECAUSE IT IS AN HONEST SIGN OF GENETIC FITNESS THAT YOU CANNOT FAKE.

• - PEOPLE WITH NEOTENOUS FEATURES (BABY FACE FEATURES) ARE ALSO CONSIDERED ATTRACTIVE. THESE FEATURES INCLUDE WIDELY SEPARATED AND LARGE EYES, DELICATE CHINE AND SMALL NOSE. THIS IS BECAUSE IT TRIGGERS A CARING AND PROTECTIVE INSTINCT. THIS IS A VALUABLE RESOURCE FOR FEMALES WANTING TO REPRODUCE.

• - MCNULTY ET AL. HAS SHOWN THAT PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS IS AN IMPORTANT FEATURE THROUGHOUT A RELATIONSHIP NOT JUST FROM THE INITIAL ATTRACTION AT THE START OF THE RELATIONSHIP.

THE HALO EFFECT. • - PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS MIGHT BE SUCH AN IMPORTANT FEATURE OF

ATTRACTION BECAUSE SOCIETY HAS FORMED PRECONCEIVED IDEAS ABOUT THE PERSONALITY TRAITS THAT ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE MUST HAVE.

• - THE PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS STEREOTYPE IS A WIDELY ACCEPTED VIEW THAT KAREN DION SUMS UP AS ‘WHAT IS BEAUTIFUL IS GOOD’.

• - THOSE THAT ARE PHYSICALLY ATTRACTIVE ARE BELIEVED TO BE KIND, STRONG, SOCIABLE AND SUCCESSFUL COMPARED TO HOW WE THINK OF UNATTRACTIVE PEOPLE.

• - THIS BELIEF THAT ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE ARE ASSUMED TO HAVE THESE PERSONALITY TRAITS MAKES THE ATTRACTION STRONGER. SO WE HAVE POSITIVE VIEWS TOWARDS THEM, AN EXAMPLE OF A SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY.

• - THE TERM HALO EFFECT IS USED TO DESCRIBE HOW PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS TENDS TO HAVE A DISPROPORTIONATE INFLUENCE ON OUR JUDGMENTS OF A PERSON’S OTHER IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTES LIKE PERSONALITY.

THE MATCHING HYPOTHESIS.

• - COMMON SENSE TELLS US THAT ALL OF US AREN’T ABLE TO PURSUE AND FORM RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE MOST ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE BECAUSE THERE AREN’T ENOUGH FOR EACH OF US.

• - THIS LEADS US TO BELIEVE THAT AN ASSESSMENT OF OUR OWN PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS PLAYS A ROLE IN OUR CHOICE OF ROMANTIC PARTNER. THIS IS THE MATCHING HYPOTHESIS, WHICH WAS SUGGESTED BY ELAINE WALSTER ET AL.

• - IT SUGGESTS THAT OUR CHOICE OF ROMANTIC PARTNER HAVE ROUGHLY SIMILAR PHYSICAL TRAITS TO EACH OTHER. IN ORDER TO DO THIS, WE MUST MAKE A REALISTIC JUDGMENT OF OUR OWN PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS AS WOULD BE SEEN BY A POTENTIAL PARTNER.

• - OUR CHOICE OF PARTNER IS A COMPROMISE. • - THE FACT THAT WE DESIRE THE MOST PHYSICALLY ATTRACTIVE PARTNER COULD BE

BECAUSE OF EVOLUTIONARY, SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL REASONS. • - HOWEVER, WE CONSIDER THE RISK OF REJECTION FROM SOMEONE MORE ATTRACTIVE

BY COMPROMISING.• - THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT WE WOULD LIKE OUR IDEAL PARTNER TO

LOOK LIKE AND WHAT WE ARE PREPARED TO SETTLE FOR.

AO3

• POINT: A STRENGTH OF THE HALO EFFECT IS THAT THERE IS RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR IT.

• EVIDENCE: PALMER AND PETERSON FOUND THAT ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE WERE RATED AS BEING MORE POLITICALLY KNOWLEDGEABLE AND COMPETENT. THIS IDEA PERSISTED EVEN WHEN THE PARTICIPANT KNEW THAT THE ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE HAD NO PARTICULAR EXPERTISE. THIS IDEA HAS OBVIOUS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE POLITICAL PROCESS AS IT WOULD BE DANGEROUS TO ASSUME THAT POLITICIANS WERE JUDGED AS SUITABLE FOR OFFICE BASED ON THEIR PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS.

• COMMENT: THIS IS A STRENGTH BECAUSE THE HALO EFFECT HAS BEEN FOUND TO APPLY TO MANY OTHER AREAS OF EVERYDAY LIFE. THIS CONFIRMS THAT PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS IS AN IMPORTANT FEATURE IN THE FORMATION OF RELATIONSHIPS.

• POINT: A LIMITATION OF THE PROPOSED IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS IS THAT THERE ARE IMPORTANCE INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES.

• EVIDENCE: TOWHEY ASKED MALE AND FEMALE PARTICIPANTS TO RATE INDIVIDUALS BASED ON THEIR PHOTO AND SOME BIOGRAPHICAL INFO. THEY USED THE MACHO SCALE-DESIGNED TO MEASURE SEXIST ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOURS. THOSE WHO SCORED HIGHLY WERE MORE INFLUENCED BY THE PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS WHEN ASKED ABOUT LIKABILITY AND LOW SCORERS WERE LESS SENSITIVE BY THIS INFLUENCE.

• COMMENT: THIS SHOWS THAT THE FACTOR OF PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS BEING A SIGNIFICANT CONSIDERATION WHEN FORMING RELATIONSHIPS IS NOT IS NOT AS IMPORTANT FOR ALL INDIVIDUALS.

• POINT: A STRENGTH OF THE FACTOR OF PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS IS THAT THERE IS RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR THE MATCHING HYPOTHESIS.

• EVIDENCE: THERE IS RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR THE HYPOTHESIS IN ITS NARROW FORM AS REFERRING TO PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS ONLY. A RESEARCHER CARRIED OUT A META-ANALYSIS OF 17 STUDIES AND FOUND A SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION IN RATINGS OF ATTRACTIVENESS BETWEEN ROMANTIC PARTNERS.

• COMMENT: THIS SUPPORTS THE MATCHING HYPOTHESIS BECAUSE THE STUDIES LOOKED AT ACTUAL PARTNERS, WHICH IS A MORE REALISTIC APPROACH.

• POINT: A STRENGTH OF THE RESEARCH DONE INTO PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS IS SHOWN TO BE SIGNIFICANT IN MULTIPLE CULTURES.

• EVIDENCE: WHAT IS CONSIDERED TO BE ATTRACTIVE IS CONSISTENT ACROSS CULTURES. CERTAIN FEMALE FEATURES LIKE HIGH EYEBROWS, LARGE EYES AND PROMINENT CHEEKBONES IS RATED AS HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE BY WHITE, HISPANIC AND ASIAN MALES. KOREAN AND AMERICAN STUDENTS JUDGED ATTRACTIVE PEOPLE AS BEING TRUSTWORTHY, MATURE AND FRIENDLY.

• COMMENT: THIS SHOWS THAT THE STEREOTYPES ARE JUST AS STRONG IN COLLECTIVIST CULTURES AS IT IS IN INDIVIDUAL CULTURES.

• POINT: A LIMITATION OF THE MATCHING HYPOTHESIS IS THAT THERE HAS BEEN CONTRADICTING RESEARCH FOR IT.

• EVIDENCE: A TAYLOR ET AL. STUDIED THE ACTIVITY LOGS OF A POPULAR DATING SITE IN WHICH HE WAS ABLE TO SEE ACTUAL DATING CHOICES. HE FOUND THAT THE ONLINE DATERS SOUGHT MEETINGS WITH POTENTIAL PARTNERS WHO WERE MORE PHYSICALLY ATTRACTIVE THAN THEM. SO IT WOULD SEEM THAT THEY DID NOT CONSIDER THEIR OWN LEVEL OF ATTRACTIVENESS WHEN MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT WHO THEY WOULD DATE.

• COMMENT: THIS SHOWS THAT NOT EVERYONE CONSIDERS THEIR OWN LEVEL OF PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS WHEN PICKING POTENTIAL PARTNERS SUGGESTING THAT THE MATCHING HYPOTHESIS CANNOT BE APPLIED TO EVERYONE.

CHECK IT QUESTIONS:

• IN RELATION TO FACTORS AFFECTING ATTRACTIONIN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS, EXPLAIN WHAT IS MEANT BY THE MATCHING HYPOTHESIS. (2 MARKS)

• OUTLINE PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVNESS AS A FACTOR AFFECTING ATTRACTION IN ROMANTC RELATIONSHIPS. (4 MARKS)

• OUTLINE THE MATCHING HYPOTHESIS AS AN EXPLANATION OF FACTORS AFFECTING ATTRACTION IN ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS. (4 MARKS)